Quote:
Originally Posted by Umai Naa
$10mil would cover a whole program (the R&D, sponsorship, the marketing, the homologation fees, parts) for a couple of seasons.
You would think that after the first few years, the subsequent contracts would be a lot cheaper for the importer/manufacturer.
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The story goes that Nissan are still paying at least $4m a season to NisMoAu to run their Altima program, plus activation plus the GT-R program plus whatever the custom tooling & build of cylinder heads cost plus deveeloping 3 separate aero kits etc..
It is a question of how much branding a manufacturer might like to see on a race car. Before this year, 888 won with a Red Bull car, that's what the teev bods call it, its what the newspapers call it, it's what we see on screen. Holden sometimes gets a look in, but the team was called Red Bull Racing Australia, and referred to as that for years...
If a manufacturer/importer wants a Kia or Alfa Romeo or Hyundai or Renault or Honda or Lexus or Subaru Supercar, do they want their cars known as Mobil 1 Racing or Shell V Power Racing or Bottle O Racing, rather than their manufacturer brand name.
And of course how many cars they want to support..
The thing that interests me about the NisMoAu squad is that from the outside, the car liveries (except #23) makes little reference to Nissan in their livery design, other than a windscreen banner.
$10m might be underselling it...