Erebus Motorsport's V8 Supercars team has "reportedly ended its ties with Mercedes-Benz and AMG, bringing their two-year customer deal to an end," according to FOX SPORTS. The Betty Klimenko-owned squad has "endured two difficult seasons building a racing program around the AMG-tuned version of the German marque's E-Class sedan with no direct support from Mercedes-Benz." After "successfully lobbying Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific for their consent to race the E63 in V8 Supercars," the Queensland-based squad secured a technical support deal with AMG, Mercedes-Benz's performance arm, through its customer sports racing program HWA. Although Erebus had been in negotiations to renew that deal at the end of '14, the new season will see the team racing its E63 V8 Supercars "without any technical assistance from HWA." Erebus Motorsport CEO Ryan Maddison said, "There is no contract in place and the understanding is there is no real reason or need to have a contract because of the services we no longer take directly from AMG or HWA." Maddison confirmed the team was "unlikely to switch to another manufacturer before the arrival of sweeping rule changes for the 2017 V8 Supercars season" (FOX SPORTS, 3/9).
