DJR Team Penske: Ford backing key to Mustang Supercars programme

With the final two teams running Fords in Supercars – DJR Team Penske and Prodrive Racing Australia – seemingly committed the brand despite a lack of direct factory funding, there is currently a question mark over what Blue Oval bodyshape we’ll see in the series in the future.

The Falcon FG X is rapidly approaching a point of being outdated in a marketing sense, making it likely that a new model will be introduced either next season or for the 2019 season. The Focus and Mondeo are both options, as is the two-door Mustang, which will be allowed under the new-for-2018 Gen2 regulations.

PRA boss Tim Edwards has already stated his preference to move to the Mustang bodyshape, particularly given the team’s links to the Tickford road car tuning company.

Now, DJR Team Penske boss Ryan Story has confirmed that a shift to the Mustang would be “fantastic for both the team and the category”, but warns that it will take some help from Ford for it to become a reality.

“I think it would be fantastic for the series,” Story told Motorsport.com.

“But something like that can’t happen without the support and backing from Ford, so I think there is a lot of water to go under that bridge before we see something like that transpire.

“But absolutely, it would be fantastic for both the team and category to be in that position.

“As it comes back to us, our intent and desire is to field the most competitive car that we can. We still believe that we have the ability to be competitive with the package that we currently run, and what we race next year still has a little asterisk next to it.

“You’ll see some of that unfold over the course of the next few months.”

Like Edwards, Story stopped short of ruling out the FG X package being used again in 2018, which means any new Ford shape coming into the series may well have to wait until 2019.

“I think it’s just as likely we would run [the FG X] for another season,” he added. “We have the capacity to do that.

“We’re committed to the Ford product, but again for us to make a change it requires the input and certainly the investment of others beyond us. So it’s not as simple as making a decision and going with it. If only it was that simple.

“We want to field the most competitive package we can, and we know that the guys and girls that come to race tracks and watch it on TV would love to see a car like that race.”

There will be six Falcons on the grid in 2017 – four from PRA (Mark Winterbottom, Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert, and Jason Bright), and the two Shell-backed DJR Team Penske cars (Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard).