KEY POINTS:
He may have flown the blue oval banner for over three decades, but Dick Johnson has found himself on the Ford scrapheap.
Australian media is reporting that Ford made a financial decision yesterday to centralise its V8 Supercar efforts.
The company will now run just two teams
- FPR (Ford Performance Racing) and SBR (Stone Brothers Racing), which employs Kiwi rising star Shane Van Gisbergen.
This leaves Dick Johnson's Jim Beam Racing out in the cold, and catches Craig Lowndes' Triple Eight Racing team without full support.
The Daily Telegraph said the move will save the Aussie manufacturer $3 million in team sponsorships.
"This is a weird one," Johnson told the newspaper. "I'm 63 but right now I feel more like 190. It's already been a tough year."
Team manager Adrian Burgess was unreachable for comment.
It is understood that Johnson has poured much of his personal fortune into his V8 Supercar team, and the Telegraph today reported that he may now face bankruptcy proceedings.
His history with Ford motorsport stretches back to 1975, when he had his first start in a Falcon. The man known as 'Tricky Dickie" also raced US Mustangs and force-fed Sierras, as well as a lowly production Laser, before getting back into Falcons as the V8 Supercar era gained momentum.
Triple Eight Racing boss Ronald Dane put the cuts down to "challenges" that Ford faces as the market for big cars - like the Falcon - dries up.
It is not yet clear is Ford plans further cuts, but it is understood that FPR is looking at a three-car program for next year, as well as entering a tech-sharing deal with the New Zealand born Stone Brothers.
V8 Supercars is considered by some in the motorsport world to be suffering the effects of 'chequebook racing', with a major gap being created between factory-backed teams at the top end of the series and those with limited budgets.
Team Kiwi racing boss David John said today that he wasn't surprised at Ford's decision to cut its motorsport budget.
"It's a simple reflection of the economic situation that the manufacturers are facing," he said.
"The reality is that when the economy dries up, sponsorship - in all sports, not just in motorsport - gets reassessed.
"I'm sure Holden is looking at the same thing."
He did say that the trimming of Ford's sponsorship will help bring some of the larger, well-supported teams closer to the rest of the field.
"It means that our limit budget - which is significant in New Zealand terms but nowhere near what the 'big boys' in Australia have - is now one step closer to some teams that have been used to getting a big cheque every year."
The next V8 Supercar round is at the Hidden Valley circuit in the Northern Territory this weekend.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
