888 and Prodrive

marcus · 11 Apr 2004, 06:56 (Ref:936253)

hi Folks , I dont get in here that much due to knowing nothing about the european touring scene but I'd like to ask a question if i may.

this year in 2004 both 888 racing and prodrive have ventured into the Australian v8 supercar championship both with ford teams , so far 888 are doing fairly well with being on the pace but results are not there as yet and prodrive is having some very hard times due to engines I believe.

But my question is are these teams still running anything in britian or Europe at all or are they solely in v8's this year ?

Im just curious to find out out if running multiple programs will effect any one of them ?

so if someone could tell me what 888 or prodrive are up to in Europe it would satisfy my curiosity

CHEERS
Marcus

**touringlegend** · 11 Apr 2004, 08:16 (Ref:936288)

888 (or Triple Eight whatever you want to call them) are running the official Vauxhall Astra Coupé team this year, going for the 4th title on the trot, having won the three titles (drivers, manufacturers' and teams') for the last three years! Just to give you an idea how good they are, James Thompson and Yvan Muller (2 of their 3 drivers) are on the front row of the grid for todays races, with 0.6 secs from them to the 3rd placed man.

Prodrive were last involved with Touring cars in 2002 with Volvo in the ETCC. As far as I know they don't have any Touring Car projects on the go, just mainly sportscars right now (Ferrari's) and the Subaru WRC cars.

I think though the link up to the V8 teams is basically in names right now didn't they buy out other teams?

marcus · 11 Apr 2004, 08:29 (Ref:936295)

thanks touring legend , I know that 888 bought out Briggs motorsport here In Oz and they are running things ouright in fact derek warwick himself was here at the last round to view how things were going.

Prodrive im not so sure about , i think they have complete control but im not sure (a more astute v8 fan may be able to help us) they are involved with the Ford performance racing team (FPV) and are actually building engines at the moment for them which is the biggest problem as they are building them in england and sending them over and the team are suffering at the moment from both lack of engines and unreliability.

with FPV however I think Fortd Australia still have controlling interest in this team but i know that 888 have total control of their team and are doing very well so far with the pace of the cars but they seem to fail at the end of the race.

just if anyone is interested Prodive have two drivers Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton both former v8 champions and craig an ex team mate of montoya in f3000.

888 have Paul Radisich and Max Wilson doing the driving both very experienced in their own careers and now seasoned campaigners in v8's.

thanks for the info anyway touringlegend , helped me get a few things sorted in my own head anyway

CHEERS
Marcus

**GTRMagic** · 11 Apr 2004, 08:49 (Ref:936298)

Prodrive purchased the Tickford group, which got them the newly monikered Ford Performance Vehicles...

They also purchased Glenn Seton Racing from its owner/founder, in return for a driving contract which is up at the end of season 2004

SPARK Msport · 11 Apr 2004, 08:57 (Ref:936300)

Isn't the man behind Prodrive (Dave Richards) running the B.A.R Honda team this year?
Could someone clear that up for me please...

**GTRMagic** · 11 Apr 2004, 09:04 (Ref:936307)

Yes he is... although the local Aussie boss of FPV is David Flint, an ex-pat Pom who has been here for 10 or so years now, looks after the team and FPV on a day to day basis...

marcus · 11 Apr 2004, 09:08 (Ref:936311)

oh well there you go then , thanks GTR I didnt realize prodrive's involvement was so much especially purchasing tickford.

that shows they are in this for the longhaul to me anyway

kristof14 · 12 Apr 2004, 02:34 (Ref:936924)

As far as I'm aware the 888 team in Australia only shares the name with the UK team. They don't share any staff or resources.

Prodrive are run by Dave Richards who also runs B.A.R. in F1. They also build the WRC Subaru Impreza. They also used to build the BTCC Volvos before changing to Ford for the final seasons of Supertourers.

You couldn't really find 2 teams with a higher pedigree to come to Australia and race (although I'm sure VLR, WSR and RML would have something to say!)

marcus · 12 Apr 2004, 04:25 (Ref:936956)

actually kristof 888 do share staff and resources from England to the Aussie V8's , they may not be everywhere but there certainly has been some crossover of staff and resources.

**touringlegend** · 12 Apr 2004, 08:58 (Ref:937112)

And Prodrive never ran Volvos - that was TWR.

**FIRE** · 12 Apr 2004, 11:51 (Ref:937249)

Quote:

Originally posted by touringlegend
And Prodrive never ran Volvos - that was TWR.

They ran Volvos in ETCC

**touringlegend** · 12 Apr 2004, 17:31 (Ref:937425)

They didn't in the BTCC though.

supertouring · 13 Apr 2004, 20:57 (Ref:938780)

ProDrive ran BMWs in BTCC in early 90s, was then linked to Mercedes deal which never appeared and then ran Alfas in 95 (after supporting the Alfa Corse team the season before). Then Honda Accords and then Ford Mondeos.
Dave Richards was originally rally co-driver with Ari Vatanen and won world champ in 1980(?). Last privateer team to win WRC, IIRC.

rdjones · 13 Apr 2004, 21:20 (Ref:938805)

That sounds about right supertouring. They are also building the Aston Martins for next years Le Mans. They are also running Colin McRae in a Ferrari in this years race

marcus · 13 Apr 2004, 21:40 (Ref:938822)

busy boys right round the world then

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