Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport is close to locking in its 2012 V8 Supercars program, including a new naming-rights sponsor.
After successive announcements about the departure of driver Warren Luff and sponsor Gulf Western Oils, team principal Lucas Dumbrelll – the youngest team owner in the V8 pit lane – has already locked in vital elements of its program, with a new major backer close to finalisation.
At this point, Dumbrell is not prepared to reveal any of his 2012 plans.
CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com’s news story on potential driver and chassis changes at the single-car V8 team.
A promising team debut in 2010 gave Dumbrell optimism for 2011, but a far from ideal season has led to a shake up.
Speaking for the first time since the departure of Luff and Gulf Western Oils, Dumbrell remains committed to V8 Supercars and is looking forward to announcing his 2012 plans.
“Firstly, I would like to thank Gulf Western Oil for its support for LDM in its first two seasons, and Warren for his efforts since he came on board at the end of 2010,” Dumbrell said.
“LDM was formed in late 2009 and it was only a few months later that we were on track and making our series debut in Abu Dhabi. Since then it has been an incredible learning curve and sometimes rollercoaster experience for me.
“I was extremely proud of what we achieved in our first year but the truth is that this season we never got off the ground like we should have.
“I am committed to V8 Supercars for the long term and there are clear goals set out in LDM’s initial five year plan which as a team we are steadfast on achieving,” he said.
“To realise those, it was obvious early on this year that we needed to improve our organisation off-track and increase our competitiveness on it. It was necessary to begin formulating a new strategy, which we initiated quite early.
“Those plans included a major restructure of team operations, our technical agreements, securing talented people – team members and driver – committed to a common goal, and sourcing the appropriate funding and resources to compete at a higher level.
“Some of those changes have already been made, others have been agreed and signed, while we are getting closer to signing off on our final arrangements, including a new naming rights sponsor.
“We are not in a position to announce what those plans are just yet, but as each piece of the puzzle is put in place I become even more excited about LDM’s future – and it is looking bright.”
Luff will make his final appearance in the Gulf Western Oil Commodore at next week’s season-ending Sydney Telstra 500, on December 2-4.
