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NEWS
Benz image safe in V8Supercars
AMG boss says fans will understand E63 racing against Commodore, Falcon and Altima is a private not factory effortThe global boss of Mercedes-Benz performance division AMG is confident privateer team Erebus Motorsport racing its E63 model in the V8Supercar championship against Holden Commodores, Ford Falcons and Nissan Altimas won’t damage the brand’s upmarket image.
Ola Kallenius was speaking exclusively to motoring.com.au at the Detroit auto show this week, where the updated E63 road car (pictured) – on which the looks of the V8Supercar is based – was launched and only hours before the Erebus racer ran for the first time in a shakedown test in Queensland.
“You can argue that back and forth and it’s up to the team to demonstrate they can do a good job,” Mr Kallenius said. “But it’s a private initiative, so we are not stepping in here as a manufacturer full throttle and throwing everything at it.
“I think the drivers of AMGs and customers in general can separate that. They know racing is in our blood and this [Erebus Motorsport V8 campaign] is through the customer motorsport program. It is another racing dimension.”
It was the rejection of the Erebus plan by Mercedes-Benz Australia-Pacific, in part over the issue of image, that nearly derailed the project in mid-2012.
But after six weeks of to and fro debate last Spring, the team gained grudging approval from MB A/P for its privately funded racing campaign, in which it will race three E63 AMGs developed by AMG’s motorsport partner HWA to V8Supercars Car of the Future regulations.
Erebus is owned by Sydney millionaire businesswoman Betty Klimenko. The team has campaigned AMG's SLS GT3 successfully in Australia for the last two years and Mrs Klimenko has been a long-time fan and buyer of Mercedes-Benz road cars. She is funding the multi-million project, including paying for car development and also purchasing Stone Brothers Racing to conduct the campaign.
Mr Kallenius admitted that it was the strong relationship between AMG and Klimenko that played a key role in eventually getting the project approved.
“When the Erebus team came and said they wanted as a private initiative to go above and beyond as a privateer and enter into V8Supercars, we had a discussion and we said as a constructor we don’t want to go into V8Superacrs,” Mr Kallenius explained.
“But if you have a customer who is not only an enthusiastic and successful GT racing customer but also a very enthusiastic customer for Mercedes-Benz and AMG for many, many years we ultimately said ‘the customer is king’. If they want to do that we will support it but purely as a customer motorsports program.”
Mr Kallenius explained there were distinct differences between AMG’s factory and customer motorsport program which had to be appreciated by fans when appraising the performance of Erebus.
“For the works motorsport … we [AMG] are accountable and we are responsible. We do everything and we plan and execute everything. With customers you hand a technical product over to them and you are in their trusted hands.
“So if you accept the fact you are going to do customer motorsports then your product is going to be represented by teams from Brazil to Japan in different shapes or form. Let’s not forget these customers in the end are the people that make our business possible, and we feel customer motorsports adds a positive dimension to AMG. Once you have accepted that then you have also accepted you have different teams and characters doing their thing.”
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Written byBruce Newton
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