Ford racing boss rules out V8 Supercar return

The global head of Ford factory motorsport has ruled out any return to Australia's V8 Supercar Championship after the Mustang becomes eligible for the category in 2017.

Ford Performance chief David Pericak told motoring.com.au at the Detroit auto show this week that a return was not being considered.

"We don’t see that at the moment and it's not in the future plans," he said.

"People want us to race nearly every category around the world and we just can’t do that."

Pericak said the category did not fulfil the criteria Ford set down for its racing.

"Where we participate needs to be a good return on our investment and what we are trying to achieve with racing. We are not racing just to race. We are racing to make sure we learn, we develop new tools and we develop our engineers.

"And obviously we use that to bring it into the product development of the cars we put in peoples' driveways.

"So that is a series we have decided doesn't fulfill all of those needs and that is why we have decided to exit that series."

Ford Australia severed its last connection with V8 Supercars at the end of the 2015 championship when its sponsorship of Prodrive Racing Australia ended.

Ironically, Ford departed the championship at the same time Mark Winterbottom won his and the team's first ever driver’s championship.

Despite the lack of formal support from the Blue Oval, PRA will campaign four Falcon FG Xs in the championship in 2016 while DJR Team Penske will campaign two.

While Ford Australia has been stoic in its insistence that its decision regarding the V8 Supercars championship was irreversible, both PRA and DJRTP had held out hopes of support from Pericak and Ford Performance.

DJRTP owner Roger Penske and his racing chief lieutenant Tim Cindric have a close relationship with Pericak and Ford Performance through NASCAR.

But despite confirmed discussions on V8 Supercars with Cindric, DJRTP local boss Ryan Story and PRA co-owner Rod Nash in recent times, Pericak says there’s no straying from the course set by Ford Australia.

"Roger is a great partner and we wish him all the best and we hope that he continues to win but we don't plan on participating.

"They talk to us about where they are and we stay boxed up along the way with them and what they are doing.

"But there is no pressure coming from the Penske team. They know we have exited, they respect that and they haven't been pressuring us."

New 'Gen2' regulations coming into force from 2017 in Australia will allow body shapes other than sedans and engines other than V8s to join the traditional four-door V8s in the category.

That had led to speculation the prospect of a racing version of the new-generation Mustang with a V8 or V6 twin turbo engine could tempt Pericak to back the program directly, or encourage Ford Australia to reconsider its decision.

But Pericak indicated there was little likelihood of that happening.

"We are always open for review spending change but I would say V8 Supercar racing doesn't serve our need and give us the biggest return on our investment.

"We are going to invest even deeper in the areas where we think it does help us but that is just not an area that is a priority for us."

Instead, Ford's new Mustang looks likely to grace local racetracks as part of a new TransAm series, as we reported last week.

Pericak was at the Detroit show unveiling the latest Ford Fusion NASCAR (above). Ford will also return to Le Mans this year with the newly-developed GT.