MOTORSPORT: Key Holden exec attends first V8 race

One of the key players in deciding the future shape and form of Holden’s V8 Supercars commitment took in a championship race for the first time at the Clipsal 500.

Marketing and customers experience executive director Geraldine Davys watched on last Saturday at the Adelaide parklands circuit as Holden’s two factory teams finish one-two in the two 125km races in front of full grandstands at what is widely regarded as the category’s blue ribbon event.

Jamie Whincup won clearly first up in the Red Bull Holden Commodore VF ahead of the Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney, while the order flipped in an exciting second outing.

A prior commitment meant Davys could not stay for Sunday’s weather-truncated race which was won by Nick Percat in a Commodore for small privateer team Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Davys was hosted at Clipsal by long-time Holden motorsport boss Simon McNamara, who showed her through the factory teams and introduced her to key players.

“For Geraldine to come and have a look and see what she saw and speak to who she spoke to, I think it was good for her to come and see it.

“I know she enjoyed it and she would have been here on Sunday if she didn’t have other things to do.”

Neither Red Bull’s parent Triple Eight Racing Engineering or HRT have a contract with Holden beyond this year, nor has Holden made anything more than a verbal commitment to race beyond this year.

However, Holden is expected to race on in 2017, which is the last year of the locally-built Commodore.

From 2018 a racing Commodore would be based on the current road car’s imported replacement — a re-badged Opel Insignia. Thanks to new 'Gen2' rules to be introduced in 2017, it would likely compete with a race version of the twin-turbo V6 expected to power the new Insignia VXR, which could be sold here as the next Commodore SS (rendered here in V8 Supercars race trim, using the Opel Monza concept as a basis).

But Davys, who joined Holden from online comparison company iSelect just 11 months ago, has been characterised as one of the executives at the company unconvinced that Holden should have a major commitment to racing because of the multi-million dollar expense and the company’s desire to target new audiences when it becomes a full-line importer.

The opposite view, which is also being expressed within Holden, is that in the new era and with a new-generation car the importance of going racing and winning is more important than ever.

Holden is the most dominant and consistent player in Australian touring car and V8 Supercar racing, with Percat bringing up the brand’s 499th victory.

McNamara said he couldn’t put a timeframe on when Holden’s motor racing future would become clearer.

“There are a number of stakeholders and we need to work through different scenarios. We are unashamedly going through a rebranding process of trying to talk to new audiences and reinvent our brand in a new way.

“We aren’t forgetting our massive fan base that we have now, but we need to evolve because the world changes. But having said that we know racing is in our DNA and we have a massive fan base that is fully engaged and emotionally engaged in what we do.

“It’s not as easy as what it has been in the past. We have this new vehicle coming and we have all these other things to concentrate and worry about … There is a lot of work to do given the circumstances to make that decision.”

Meanwhile, McNamara expressed his delight at LDM breaking through for its first win at the Clipsal.

Team owner Lucas Dumbrell set up the team only months after being made quadriplegic in a Formula Ford accident at the age of 19 in 2009.

The team has struggled to establish itself ever since and McNamara has been one of a group of key players who have helped improve its competitiveness, organisation and staffing. He was pivotal in getting the highly talented Percat onboard in 2015.

“People seem to forget Lucas is relatively a baby,” said McNamara. “He was a driver who through whatever act of nature has ended up as a team owner. And his passion for his sport and his team to succeed really rung true to me.

“He is a family friend of mine so we wanted to make sure he was OK.

“But that aside it was more about making sure his team was a long term proposition for him as opposed to some that come and go.”