Ford "is dead according to high level V8 Supercars officials with Australia's greatest sporting rivalry to be killed off by the end of next year," according to James Phelps of the HERALD SUN. Ford is "set to axe V8 Supercars" from its A$60M ($52.6M) sponsorship war chest in a move that will end the "iconic" Ford vs. Holden Mount Panorama racing war. With the Falcon "already dead and waiting to be buried, V8 officials have been told Ford will officially quit the sport at the end of the year and will not renew a multi-million dollar year deal with reigning Bathurst champions Ford Performance Racing (FPR)." Ford will "remain on the grid next year with FPR and Penske/Dick Johnson Racing to give the Falcon a one year stay of execution with plans already underway to turn the FGX -- the last ever Falcon -- into a V8 Supercar." But then the team "will be dead." Ford’s future in the sport has been under a "heavy cloud since the American giant announced the Falcon would be axed in 2016 after and Ford's Australian factory closed." Amid a global restructuring and "plummeting car sales in Australia, Ford has remained uncommitted to motorsport, instead spending their marketing budget on television shows including the Voice and the Bachelorette." V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton says his pleas to Ford had "fallen on deaf ears." Warburton: "We have two teams who will race Ford in 2015 even if they will not be factory backed. We have consistently made our case to Ford, not only for 2015, but well into the future. They know exactly where we are going and the huge benefits we can deliver. We would obviously love to have them continue in the sport" (HERALD SUN, 10/9).
