FORD’s future in the Repco Supercars Championship could hinge on the category’s parity process.
That’s the not-too-subtle message from Ford Performance motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook, amid the ongoing drama surrounding the early stages of Supercars’ Gen3 platform.
Rushbrook spoke at length today about the need for better data transparency – although he had said last September of achieving engine parity “we’ve laid all the correct foundations with the series in terms of going through that process.”
Nevertheless, Rushbrook is not mucking about, as evidenced by his answer to whether the current parity qualms would affect the Blue Oval’s commitment to Supercars.
“What I will say is that anywhere we race, we race for the same reasons and that is to win races and championships that matter,” he responded.
“We need to have that opportunity to win because it is important to our brand; if we’re not able to win, we don’t have the opportunity to win, it has the risk of tarnishing our brand.
“We need to be in a racing series where there’s an opportunity for innovation and tech transfer.
“We need to race where we have the opportunity to market our product appropriately, which ties back to winning of course, and to provide employee pride and satisfaction.
“So as we very regularly review inside our company with the leaders of our company to the very top, we are assessing all of the series for all of those important pillars for us.
“And where we meet those pillars, we’ll continue and we will be very strong in our presence.
“And if we’re not meeting some of those pillars, then that’s a consideration for us as we look at our future racing motorsport cycle plan.”
Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway will host Round 5 of the 2023 Supercars season on June 16-18.
