Bathurst 1000 winners Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris reckon it makes no sense and would be commercial suicide for Ford to exit the sport.
The dramatic victory on Sunday was both Mostert and Morris’ first at Mount Panorama, but second for the factory-backed Ford Performance Racing outfit following Mark Winterbottom’s breakthrough win last year.
Reports emerged last Friday that Ford was planning to leave the sport when its sponsorship deal with FPR expired at the end of this year.
Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano said the company was still in negotiations and would make an announcement after the season finale in Sydney in December.
“You saw the outcry of emotion and the passion for the brand yesterday and if Ford don’t get involved it’s going to be commercial suicide,” co-driver Morris said on Monday.
“I just can’t see it’s going to happen.”
Mostert, who won the great race at just his second attempt, was equally emphatic.
“It’s a fantastic brand and our Supercars series has been built on the Ford-Holden Rivalry over the years,” Mostert said.
“So for them to go, it just makes no sense and I think it might kill the sport a bit.”
“But I just drive race cars and I’ll let the commercial teams work all that stuff out.”
Mostert believed his triumph should send a pretty strong message that Ford needed to stay.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said.
“We want Ford to be here next year, and I’m pretty sure they will be.”
Mostert and Morris defied the odds to win the longest and most chaotic edition of the Great Race.
The pair’s Falcon started last on the grid and by lap 45 was lodged in a tyre barrier at the circuit’s worn-down turn two.
But 10 safety cars, 13 pitstops and a one-hour suspension of the race to repair the damaged section of track helped to push them up the field.
It wasn’t until the final few turns on the 161st and last lap that Mostert was able to pass championship leader Jamie Whincup, whose spluttering Holden was running on empty.
While Red Bull Racing team owner Roland Dane said Whincup cost his team the race by ignoring their orders to save fuel, Mostert endorsed the championship leader’s strategy.
“To get so close and come short, it’s probably better off than not having a crack and coming second,” Mostert said.
“It’s exactly like Jamie said. He said he thought he’d push and if he’s got fuel in the tank he’ll make it, and win the race and if not, then at least he had a good crack.
“You have to leave it all out there at the Bathurst 1000.”
The 2014 race attracted 195,261 people, the second biggest crowd in its history, surpassed only by the 50-year anniversary celebrations in 2012.
