Ford involvement in the Australian Touring Car Championship contingent on the opportunity to win:
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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.
We need to have that opportunity to win because it’s important to our brand. If we’re not able to win – if 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 – tied 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.
Where we meet those pillars, we will continue and we will be very strong in our presence.
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.
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- Mark Rushbrook
https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/05/30...tunity-to-win/
Strong statements from Rushbrook.
Rushbrook notes the importance of transient dyno testing and welcomes the torque sensors:
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As for us, every engine that we develop in every series, we run on a transient dyno; usually both a transient engine dyno and also a transient driveline dyno, which includes the full engine, full driveline out to the wheel hubs.
So, I think it should be an indication that if automakers that are involved in motorsports on a global basis are using transient dynos to develop the engines, we’re using them for a reason, because there’s a lot of valuable information that you get on the transient dyno that you don’t otherwise.
So, yes, we ran on a transient dyno, but that doesn’t do anything to help parity within the series if the two engines, or as installed in the driveline system, if they’re not run on the same dyno in a comparative way.
We’ve been a proponent of a transient dyno for a very, very long time, as well as torque sensors, so it’s good to see movement towards those and that is what will ultimately help guide the series to true technical parity.
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- Mark Rushbrook
https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/05/30...-for-a-reason/
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Originally Posted by Matt K
Ahh why I knew Nissan, Toyota and BMW will pop up in this discussion... Well, would like to see them too but it didn't happen and probably never will...
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If Ford were to withdraw from the Australian Touring Car Championship and with no other manufacturers (like Nissan, Toyota or BMW), what regulations would the Australian Touring Car Championship likely adopt? A one-make Chevrolet Camaro cup with that being the only vehicle licensed to the category?
There are some rumours that Ford Performance have already decided to cut the ATCC from their activities, and Ford Australia may choose to reallocate their marketing budget to activities with superior ROI than the ATCC...
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Originally Posted by Sandgroper
More the merrier but we have sort of fenced ourselves off sadly with regards to other brands.
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What a mess! BMW and Nissan were happily involved in the ATCC, yet it all went horribly wrong.
Unless the ROI of ATCC involvement is improved significantly, they may indeed not come back either.