THE global financial crisis could cause the collapse of some V8 Supercars teams, the sport's boss, Tony Cochrane, conceded on the eve of the showpiece Bathurst 1000 race.
Cochrane said that his sport was likely to suffer some fall-out from the economic chaos around the world, saying: "I am sure we will be affected, I am sure our fans will be affected and some of our teams will be affected, no question. You can't avoid that in this massive financial clout, but I think, overall, [if] we keep doing everything diligently we will be OK.
"The teams all run their own businesses … there will be teams here that do struggle a bit. But I think the vast majority of them are pretty good business guys and the good operators amongst them will find a way through the storm."
Asked if the sport might lose teams, Cochrane replied: "I hope not, but it's a possibility I guess, yeah."
He stressed, however, that the V8 management planned to work with the teams to help them remain commercially viable in difficult trading conditions.
In general, he was bullish about the prospects for the V8 show, which will add a street race at Townsville to its calendar next year.
"I can't speak for all motorsport but I can speak for V8 Supercars," he said. "We are travelling along quite well. We have got some big sponsorships which we have recently rolled out. Most people who follow the championship would be aware we have a lot of contracts with events like here [Bathurst] that goes for another 17 years. On top of that, V8 Supercars Australia is a very well run company. We have got very small borrowings of a couple of hundred thousand.
"But in this sort of tsunami, you never know what's coming. We think we are well placed to weather the storm and are reasonably well insulated. I have been in the entertainment business for 36 years and I have been through a couple of these already, and I can tell you that in the entertainment business things usually hold up OK.
"When people can't afford the big-ticket items any more - the new car, house or fridge - to give themselves a bit of relief, they do keep going to entertainment-based product if it's well run. I would think that V8 Supercar events will continue to attract good numbers. We have hit all our targets this weekend."
Cochrane was speaking after a press conference in which it was announced that the Supercars would switch to ethanol fuel from next year. The shift to E85 Ethanol fuel produced by CSR Australia is part of a longer-term program to try to make motor racing more environmentally friendly. Ethanol produces half the greenhouse gases of ordinary fuel and, although the teams will need to use more of it, the fact that they will have to make pit stops should increase event unpredictability.
"About two years ago, we started on the course of how our sport could look to the future and the environment was going to be an issue. I don't think we thought it would be such a big issue so quickly," Cochrane said.
The new fuel has undergone a lengthy testing process in Queensland, with both the Stone Brothers Racing and Triple Eight Racing teams evaluating its efficiency. They are confident it will work well with the powerful V8 engines. "I noticed absolutely no difference in power or performance between the ethanol fuel and our current petrol blend," triple Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes said.
The sponsorship deal with CSR on fuel is just one of a number of new arrangements V8 Supercars will announce through the month. All up the championship has agreed to $9 million in new sponsorship and will pocket $21m from new long-term contracts with Australian circuits.
"In season 2009, V8 Supercars Australia will take control of two more events in the Sydney 400 (Homebush Bay) and the Townsville 400," Cochrane said, adding that the group has long contracts with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, NSW and Queensland governments, Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Hamilton City Council, Northern Territory Government, Bathurst Council, Indy 300, Bahrain International Circuit and the Tasmanian Government.
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