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It was a disheartening sight at the end of 2014, seeing a marque so embedded in the history of Australian motorsport, end its association with the Supercars category.
The iconic Blue Oval in Australia was to no longer receive any financial support from the Ford Motor Company, which effectively cut its ties with its racing teams contesting the Australian touring car series.
Despite a recent spell of success for the Ford outfits in the Supercars championship, which has seen Prodrive (formally FPR) claim back-to-back Bathurst 1000 crowns in 2013 and 2014, as well a driver’s title for the ever-faithful Mark Winterbottom in 2015 – there has been little notice from Detroit of their brand’s feats.
Even the grand entrance of American racing giant in Roger Penske into Supercars, whom has factory Ford support Stateside in the NASCAR series, has thus far done little to entice any interest from the Blue Oval.
While the incumbent and final Ford Falcon chassis has enjoyed a renaissance in 2017, having won five of the contested eight races and has five of its six drivers within the top ten of the standings – there is uncertainty surrounding the replacement for the incumbent Falcon FG X.
Supercars in 2017, has rather underwhelmingly transitioned into Gen2; a new era of regulations which open’s the category up to allow cars of different engine varieties and body shape to participate in the championship.
(Photo via Ford Performance Racing)
With no teams and manufacturers making any changes for this year to their current machinery, 2018 is where Supercars will see the first Gen2 racer debut and that’ll be the new Holden Commodore with Opel origins – featuring a polarising V6 engine.
The only other manufacturer committed to the category moving into Gen2, is Nissan who intend on continuing the development of their Altima.
Prodrive and DJR Team Penske’s predicament is a lot more complex however, without that manufacturer support which Holden and Nissan enjoy.
Many have mooted a simple conversion to the iconic Mustang coupe, which is now available for sale in Ford showrooms Australia-wide, with The Daily Telegraph jumping the gun and going as far as reporting “Ford will replace the iconic Falcon in next year’s Supercars championship with the Mustang.”
On the other hand, Penske himself and his deputy in Tim Cindric stated that there has been no discussion with Ford yet at all, while the pair were present for the Perth SuperSprint last weekend.
“When it [Falcon] was homologated, Ford had already stepped away from the series and simply had given their blessing to having an FG X on track. That hasn’t occurred yet with the Mustang,” Cindric told motorsport.com.
The case for introducing the Mustang to Supercars is quite strong, with it being the only vehicle in Ford Australia’s range, that is closest to the Gen2 supercar template.
Prodrive with their recently reopened Tickford tuning shop, have also begun offering aftermarket modifications to the Mustang road car – which a Mustang race car would aid in promoting.
“I think the fans want to see what’s in the showroom and on the road to also be in the series,” reiterated Cindric in support of one day seeing the Mustang in Supercars.
Despite the restlessness of those wanting to hear of any commitment to the Mustang, patience is required as any switch from the Falcon for 2018 appears impossible at this late stage.
Though letting the Ford squads fly the Falcon at least another season, isn’t a bad notion at all considering their current form. Surmise, the Gen2 Commodore failing to live up to the success of its predecessor in the VF? A fruitful last hurrah for the legendary Falcon could go unchecked in that case.
The poaching of the highly intelligent engineer Ludo Lacroix from his influential position at Triple Eight Race Engineering (now the factory Holden outfit), by DJR Team Penske will serve as crucial asset in the final developments of the FG X.
If, the blessing of the Blue Oval is bestowed upon Supercars, then expect Lacroix to architect the Mustang racer – the same way he architected the current VF Commodore and previous FG Falcon.
And a big if that is, despite the domination of DJR Team Penske during the season so far and re-emergence of Prodrive as a championship contender – the future of Ford in Supercars hinges upon the consecration from Detroit, regardless of whether they wish to ever fund any involvement in the category again.
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