Supercars: Holden welcomes Ford fight
In a big day of performance news for Ford and its fans, Holden couldn’t help but remind racing tragics of its own legend status on the track.
Khodrocar - Fair enough, too, given Ford has announced it’ll race its hugely popular rear-wheel-drive V8 Mustang next year, while Holden’s entry is based on a car that has hurt more than a few feelings in the Lion camp. (The Camaro could fix everything…)
In a statement today, new Holden marketing boss Kristian Aquilina said: "It’s a legendary rivalry on the racetrack, so bring it on”.
The reborn factory-supported rivalry ought to ignite passions again, too. Despite the backstory to the new Commodore, Holden’s V8 racer has won a huge seven of the eight races in the Supercars series this year.
"Ford’s re-entry is only going to push our teams even harder and make our race cars stronger as we look to take plenty more silverware from our rivals. We look forward to relegating the new Mustang to the back of the racetrack,” Aquilina said.
It’s no surprise Aquilina is keen to get a positive message out: his recall earlier this month from Holden and Isuzu Trucks New Zealand followed the departure of former marketing boss Mark Harland, just 16 months into the job.
Harland presided over the launch of some important new models for the brand – new Commodore, Astra sedan and the Equinox – but sales have slipped a frightening 23 per cent for the first quarter of 2018.
Back on track (and away from sales), Aquilina has rightly pointed to the only scoreboard that matters for racing fanatics: track victory. The below numbers were included with Holden’s statement.
All-time race winning record (1960-2018)
Holden – 537
Ford – 351
Nissan – 30
All-time pole position record (1960-2018)
Holden – 331
Ford – 273
Nissan – 26
All-time race wins by model record (1960-2018)
Holden Commodore VF – 108
Holden Commodore VE/VEII – 103
Holden Commodore VT – 63
Ford Falcon FG – 55
2018 Supercars Championship standings
Jamie Whincup 658 (Holden)
Dave Reynolds 647 (Holden)
Scott McLaughlin 647
James Courtney 624 (Holden)
Shane van Gisbergen 618 (Holden)
Craig Lowndes 597 (Holden)
Scott Pye 589 (Holden)
Nick Percat 505 (Holden)
Chaz Mostert 494
Tim Slade 479 (Holden)
Source: Car Advice