Holden reiterates long-term V8 Supercar commitment

As the future of car manufacturing in Australia teeters on the brink, Holden has confirmed its intention to remain in the V8 Supercar category despite ongoing conjecture about the marque’s future operations. The once blossoming rivalry between Holden and Ford is now on life support, with both iconic manufacturers evaluating their involvement in Australia’s premier motorsport category.

Negotiations with the victor of next month’s federal election will be crucial for Holden as they seek further investment to facilitate continued production at their Elizabeth Plant in South Australia. In a motorsport context, the talks will determine whether manufacturing of the Holden Commodore road car, which is the basis for the marque’s V8 Supercar entry, will continue until 2022 as originally planned, or cease as soon as 2016.

Currently, Holden is locked in multi-year contracts with Walkinshaw Racing/Holden Racing Team as well as Red Bull Racing Australia/Triple Eight Race Engineering, and the new VF Commodore has won the great majority of this year’s races under the new “Car of the Future” regulations.

Holden’s managing director, Mike Devereux, affirmed the iconic marque’s ambition to extend its long and prosperous involvement in the ATCC/International V8 Supercar championship.

“Racing is a natural for us, we are absolutely committed to V8 Supercars” Mr Devereux told v8supercars.com.au. “I think we get good value from being involved in the sport and it is part of our DNA”.

“The sport is looking fairly robust. There are a couple of new teams in there that are showing up well, so I think the sport is pretty healthy.”

Devereux also applauded Ryan Walkinshaw, the efforts of whom lifted the Holden Racing Team to a dominant victory at the Townsville 400 after an extended winless period for the factory-funded Walkinshaw Racing outfit.

“Ryan and I are pretty close, we have dinner when we can and I am usually, intimately, aware of what he is doing to make sure we put the best team on the track and I think he is doing that. He has a great pair of drivers; the car is showing its mettle and improving every week.”

“Ryan is an aggressive businessman, he plays to win, and I am proud to be his partner. Obviously there is an emotional connection with HRT because of the name of the team and so on, and also because Ryan and the Walkinshaw family have been partners with Holden through HSV for such a long time.”

While the Holden managing director was not willing to comment on Adrian Burgess’ deferral to Walkinshaw Racing, the on-track performance of Triple Eight Race Engineering is far from a concern for Devereux.

“Roland Dane and Triple Eight are a spectacular operation,” he added. “And VF has won most of the races it has contested this season. We are kicking it pretty good with both teams.”

While the V8 Supercar situation appears to be somewhat rosy at Holden, the same cannot be said for their bitter rival, Ford Australia. Funding negotiations are continuing between Ford Performance Racing and Ford Australia, leaving the future of the Davison brothers, Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds up in the air. Furthermore, production of all Australian-made Ford vehicles, including the Falcon model used as the basis of the marque’s V8 Supercar entry, will cease no later than October 2016.

Regardless of concerns regarding the composition of the grid for next year and beyond, all four manufacturers will descend on Winton Motor Raceway this weekend for the Winton 360. The sixty-sixty super-sprint race format will return on Saturday, before two regulation sprint races are held on Sunday afternoon.