Crennan: Costs to skyrocket with new format
29/3/2001 23:23 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Despite the very best of intentions by AVESCO, racing costs will skyrocket in the coming years under the new Shell Series format according to TWR Australia boss, John Crennan.
Crennan – in charge of the sport’s most affluent franchise, the Holden Racing Team – says the extra track time, together with Ford’s “open chequebook policy,” would push costs through the roof over the next few years.
"We know precisely what it costs us per car per lap to participate in the V8 Supercar series and when the new format was announced last year we knew we had to get cracking with more sponsor income to offset the increasing costs,” Crennan said in a statement earlier this week.
He says an extra $400,000 will need to be found this year to remain the sport’s leader.
Despite a recent boom in sponsorship interest, Crennan says added pressure will be placed on wooing the sponsorship dollar to remain viable.
"Sponsorship negotiation is a very specialised business – companies want a lot more than just their name on a car and some driver appearances,” Crennan said.
"For teams to keep pace with the growth in V8 Supercars they must place more emphasis on their commercial operations. This is clearly the biggest challenge V8 Supercar teams face, as the honeymoon period with Ford's expenditure will soon disappear, and external sponsorship will have to be the main game to sustain growth," he said.
The new head of TWR’s Australian branch (an umbrella group which also shelters the newly-housed K-Mart Racing operation), Crennan couldn’t resist a swipe at his former employee Craig Lowndes, who made a public plea for financial backing over the weekend.
"We had a very substantial amount of personal sponsorship money ready for Craig for this season and it is unfortunate to note, that under his new management, nothing appears to be happening to this point," Crennan said.
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