FORD Australia CEO Andrew Birkic has praised Mustang Supercars teams for taking the high road at Bathurst and vowed to continue fighting for technical parity.
Parity was as a hot a topic last week at Mount Panorama as it’s ever been, with the Blue Oval pushing for pre-event changes and the rumour mill at one stage suggesting a boycott of sorts could be on the cards from whichever brand didn’t get its way.
The proposed aero upgrades ultimately were rejected just hours before practice began, to which Ford teams responded by promising to still put their best foot forward.
By the end of 161 laps yesterday, four different Ford squads featured in the top six, although the headline result was a Camaro one-two.
Leading the Ford charge was Dick Johnson Racing’s Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto in third.
“We are very proud of the Ford teams, really everyone to be honest, and obviously Anton and Tony did a super job,” Birkic told V8 Sleuth, after offering congratulations to his Chevrolet counterparts.
“For all the Ford garages it has been a bit trying, a bit of stuff going on in the background, but what we’re really pleased about is the teams focused on what they needed to do.
“They came in with the right attitude and parked some of the other issues and just focused on what they could do and what’s best for the fans.”
Speaking further to teams taking the proverbial high road, Birkic said: “First and foremost, they come to race.
“This is an incredible event, it’s the pinnacle, and we just want to be competitive.
“The issue still remains, we’re looking to achieve parity. That issue hasn’t changed.”
V8 Sleuth understands an official parity review is set to take place in the coming weeks, paving the way for changes to be approved prior to the end-of-month Gold Coast 500.
Birkic didn’t touch that exact topic but promised to keep fighting the good fight for his brand and its teams.
“We race to win. We want to turn up to every race meeting with a great chance of being on the podium,” he said.
“We’re thrilled with third but we want to come first.
“That’s what the teams should expect of us and that’s what we expect of the teams as well.”
