Ford Commits to FPR

Ford Performance Racing will continue as a factory racing team in the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship.

However, Ford and FPR are refusing to reveal any details of the deal, including its length and the amount of dollars involved.

The future of Ford’s involvement in V8 Supercar racing had been under question ever since the blue oval announced the end of Falcon production and the closure of its two Australian factories no later than October 2016.

An updated final iteration of the Falcon is due on-sale in late 2014.

Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano confirmed the deal at Mount Panorama, venue of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, late this afternoon.

“We are continuing the relationship with FPR and it has been a strong relationship for 11 years,” Graziano told motoring.com.au. “We thought this was an appropriate place (to make the announcement) and now focus on today and tomorrow.”

He acknowledged that not releasing the details of the deal would encourage speculation.

“I know, but it wouldn’t make a difference if we laid everything out there. There would be more questions that come.”

Motoring.com.au understands the renewal is for a single year and at a substantially reduced rate.

Added FPR team principal Tim Edwards: “It is essentially Ford taking up their option, which is essentially what we were after. They have taken up their option and we are moving forward as a happy family.”

However, whether out-of-contract star driver Will Davison remains part of the family is yet to be resolved. Davison is supposedly being asked to take a pay cut by FPR and has been made a lucrative offer by Erebus Motorsport. He is set to make a decision on his future next week.

“That is a separate thing,” said Edwards. “We will get back to the table with Will next week.

“This was part of our decision process with Will as to where we are at with Ford. But there are other factors outside of our control, other influences that come into play with Will. We will get back around the table with Will and probably finalise something in the next seven days.”

Graziano attributed the delay in making a decision on the future of Ford’s relationship with FPR to the amount of structural changes announced this year.

“We had a few things that we were looking at this year and we have had more than our share of announcements to make as we were looking at how we move our business moving forward. This was another element that we wanted to look at and give it the due diligence it deserves.

“It is an important relationship and it’s a relationship that I value. Not only the personal relationship with Tim but also with the team.

“The V8s are an important part of the marketing strategy for Falcon and that continues on with this. The two are linked at this point and we have our timeline with Falcon and we will continue along that timeline.”

Edwards said the team had been aware that it was sitting in the decision-making queue at Ford.

“We were respectful of the fact they have had a lot going on and while you (media) have been challenging us for months about when will we have an answer, we knew they were working through the process and with every else going on we were never going to be at the top of the list. Whenever they needed information we gave them as much information as we could.

“It is fantastic for this team and fantastic for all the Ford fans that Ford has recommitted to the sport. It is what we want, we bleed blue, everybody in the team wants to be racing a Ford so this is fantastic for the 60 people who work in FPR. But it is also fantastic for all the Ford fans.”