Neither party are ruling out the possibility of Erebus Motorsport completing a full takeover of Stone Brothers Racing following the announcement that the teams will join forces for an assault on the V8 Supercars Championship next year.
The venture, which will see SBR receive AMG engines and bodywork for a three-car Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG campaign, was described in today’s announcement as a ‘merging’ of the two outfits.
Said to only have been signed off hours before today’s press conference in Melbourne, the program is being funded by Erebus Motorsport owner Betty Klimenko, with no monies being supplied by Mercedes or AMG.
Erebus Racing CEO Ryan Maddison told Speedcafe.com at the announcement that a full takeover is not being ruled out.
“We’ve got full respect and admiration for Stone Brothers, and that (a complete takeover) wouldn’t take place unless the shoe fit both parties,” he said.
“It is something that we take really seriously. We’re really passionate about what we do in motorsport, but at the end of the day it’s a clean sheet of paper and we need to make sure that Stone Brothers are recognised for what they’ve done for the sport.
“To answer the question cleanly, the mechanics of the relationship will be fleshed out in the next few weeks. But anything is possible, sure.”
Ross Stone, who co-owns SBR with brother Jim Stone, was also reserved on the specifics of the situation.
“That’s a detail that we’re going to work out in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“Eventually it is an option, but at the moment there is a lot of stuff we have to work through.”
Klimenko meanwhile left no doubt as to who is funding the new arrangement.
“I’ll say the same thing that I said to (AMG in) Germany. I am. That’s it, I am,” she said, before expanding on her motivations.
“It is a lot of money, but I did it because I love the sport and I believe in the brand. The brand and the sport together are a wonderful match.
“I think that it’s very good for Australia. It shows the world that Australia is not just a country at the bottom of the world. We are equal or even above other nations when it comes to sport.
“We can get a chance to show the world through V8s that we can do something spectacular and I want to be a part of that.
“I’ve been involved in GT for a while and I love the sport. It makes me me.”
