Paul Dumbrell’s The Bottle O Racing Ford Falcon was unveiled this morning at the Sydney Telstra 500.
The car will run as part of the factory Ford Performance Racing team in a three-year deal between FPR, Dumbrell (driver), The Bottle O (sponsor) and Rod Nash Racing (Racing Entitlements Contract owner).
Earlier this year, The Bottle O had confirmed it would support Nash’s V8 entry (currently campaigned by Tony D’Alberto) until the end of 2011, however, the company has decided to extend its deal by a further year to run conjointly with the RNR/FPR/Dumbrell arrangement.
The Bottle O has, in turn, doubled its original investment to support the new alignment with Ford Performance Racing.
Furthermore, a new sponsorship addition to the car is signage from Victoria Bitter. That deal has been put in place in conjunction with The Bottle O.
Nash told Speedcafe that the whole deal has fallen into place perfectly.
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“The Bottle O thought that it was worthy of the investment and have stepped it up significantly,” he said.
“Because we ended up signing a three-year deal between RNR and FPR, The Bottle O decided to re-do its contact with us. Instead of having two years to run on their deal, we’ve realigned again and we’ve got now three years with them.
“This is not a customer operation – it’s a full-on factory backed car. Everything operates under the FPR banner. It’s a great package for everybody.”
Nash said his selection of Dumbrell as a driver – effectively poaching him from rival Holden factory team Walkinshaw Racing – was the icing on the cake.
“I’ve been watching Paul right from the beginning and he’s been stepping up nicely,” Nash said.
“When I was just about to make a decision on the driver, I learned that he might be available, so I stalled my decision.
“I think a drive in a new factory unit as a team-mate to the likes of Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards, it will be very good for him.
“It’s a good opportunity for him and a good opportunity for me. But he was no easy get. He really weighed up his options – there’s nothing shabby about the team he’s currently with on the Holden side.
“From what I can see, he’s had a good time there and it was a difficult decision for him to make. At the same time, there’s a difference between the factory red cars and the factory blue cars. It will be a good change for him.”
