***Ford to be killed off V8 Supercars circuit at end of 2015***

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Bathurst 1000 2014: Ford to be killed off V8 Supercars circuit at end of 2015, ending iconic rivalry with Holden

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FORD is dead according to high level V8 Supercars officials with Australia’s greatest sporting rivalry to be killed off by the end of next year.

In a Bathurst bombshell delivered on the week the last GT Falcon was built, The Daily Telegraph can reveal Ford are set to axe V8 Supercars from their $60 million sponsorship war chest in a move that will end iconic Ford v Holden Mount Panorama racing war.

With the Falcon already dead and waiting to be buried, V8 officials have been told Ford will officially quit the sport at the end of the year and will not renew a multi-million dollar year deal with reigning Bathurst champions Ford Performance Racing (FPR).



Ford will remain on the grid next year with FPR and Penske/Dick Johnson Racing to give the Falcon a one year stay of execution with plans already underway to turn the FGX — the last ever Falcon — into a V8 Supercar.

But then the Aussie legend, forged by Ford warrior Dick Johnson, will be dead.

This weekend’s Bathurst is shaping as the penultimate 1000km fight between Ford and Holden with Mark Winterbottom looking to continue the Blue Oval’s famous Mount Panorama history by upsetting Holden great Jamie Whincup.


The Daily Telegraph has been told six Ford Falcons have been confirmed to race in next year’s series with both FPR and Penske-DJR to hit the grid with the new FGX that will not be funded by Ford.

Then the 22 year-old war, made famous by Johnson and Peter Brock, will be over.

Ford’s future in the sport has been under a heavy cloud since the American giant announced the Falcon would be axed in 2016 after and Ford’s Australian factory closed.



Ford signed a one year deal with FPR a day before Winterbottom held off Whincup to land the Blue Oval a famous drought breaking Bathurst win.

Amid a global restructuring and plummeting car sales in Australia, Ford has remained uncommitted to motorsport, instead spending their marketing budget on television shows including the Voice and the Bachelorette.

V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton says his pleas to Ford had fallen on deaf ears.

“We have two teams who will race Ford in 2015 even if they will not be factory backed,’’ he said



“We have consistently made our case to Ford, not only for 2015, but well into the future. They know exactly where we are going and the huge benefits we can deliver.
“We would obviously love to have them continue in the sport.’’

FPR last night said they were still negotiating with Ford and had not given up on securing a new one year deal.

The team remain hopeful of receiving some level of factory support.

“We are still in the fight,’’ said a FPR insider.

Holden’s future on the grid is assured with the Australian manufacturer signing new deals with both the Holden Racing Team (HRT) and Red Bull Racing Australia.



Despite suggestions early this year that Holden would also quit the sport after deciding to close down its Australian operations, the Red Lion will with HRT joining Red Bull Racing Australia as full factory-backed Holden teams with champions Garth Tander, James Courtney, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup their four all-star drivers.

But the future of the Commodore still remains clouded beyond 2016 with the car facing the axe when Australian manufacturing stops.