THE future of Ford's flagship racing team has been given the firmest possible backing by its British-based parent, Prodrive.

David Richards, chairman of the international automotive performance company that owns Ford Performance Racing, has laughed off speculation FPR might be sold off by his Prodrive group.

Richards, whose company also manages Subaru's World Rally program and Aston Martin's GT racing program, said most of FPR's key sponsors - including, most importantly, Ford - had committed for the 2009 season. The only major exception is Ford Credit.

When asked about whether Prodrive's own commitment to the team was wavering, Richards was emphatic. 

“That's nonsense,” Richards, who is in Bahrain for the Desert 400, said.

“You can have it from the horse's mouth that it's not for sale.

“People can always say that anything is for sale at the right price, but in this environment will anybody pay the right price?”
Richards said his personal interest in FPR's fortunes compared favourably with all of Prodrive's racing interests.

“This weekend my interest is 100 per cent,” he explained. “It's a bit like having four kids. Who's your favourite? The one you are with at the time.”

Richards conceded the current economic climate had made attracting new sponsors difficult but that had yet to seriously impact on FPR compared with other racing teams around the world.

“I actually think it's not as tough in Australia as it has been in Europe,” Richards said. “You are starting to see in Australia what we were seeing in Europe six months ago.

“It hasn't (affected FPR's sponsorship) because we have rolling agreements for the next couple of years with our sponsors. In this environment, though, it is not just about that. We have to deliver more value for money because (sponsors) have so many alternatives.

“They might be locked in agreements with us but that doesn't mean we don't have to over-deliver to get more value.

“It's inevitable when economics get very difficult there will be a bigger polarization of teams because the top teams will secure sponsorship and the teams on the back of the grid will find it more difficult unfortunately.

“It's a bit like that with every commodity in the world. The premium products are still selling but the middle tier products are struggling.”

Richards insisted FPR was succeeding in one of its most important roles: promoting Prodrive's joint venture with Ford Australia: Ford Performance Vehicles.

“It (FPR) has done a very good job. The product sales in the recent past and judging from the success of commemoration models it has done an excellent job,” he said.

“There's obviously a close link between the two businesses.

That was the reason we bought the team in the first instance. It took a long time for us to get it off the ground properly to where it is working today, and a lot of the credit for that must go Tim Edwards for sorting it out.

“It was always our view that if you are selling a performance brand you have to have a race team alongside it doing the job on the racetrack.”

Author:Gavin McGrath
Source:BigPond Sport - copyright

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