Confirmation on Monday that Fujitsu will leave Garry Rogers Motorsport at the end of the current season signals the end of a decade-long stint for the company as a naming rights sponsor in V8 Supercars.
Fujitsu General first joined the category with Jose Fernandez in 2003, supporting the privateer’s Development Series efforts in an ex-Brad Jones Racing Ford. The backing morphed into a full Fujitsu livery for the Bathurst 1000, where Fernandez teamed with David Russell.
Fernandez and Fujitsu joined Dick Johnson Racing for a full-season attack on the second-tier class the following year that included a second car for Owen Kelly. The Tasmanian won seven of the season’s 17 races to challenge for the title, but a bad final round dropped him to fifth in the final standings, one place behind the consistent Fernandez.
Fujitsu’s V8 Supercars presence took a major step up in 2005 as it joined with Ford to back the formation of Britek Motorsport. Initially a three-car V8 Supercars team consisting of two championship entries for Steve Owen and Matthew White and a Development Series car for Fernandez, the deal saw team owner Jason Bright placed at Ford’s factory Ford Performance Racing outfit.
A test ban due to being ‘grouped’ with the factory team and a lack of space for Owen’s entry at five events with smaller grid capacities combined to make for a difficult first season. White, whose car was supported by the separate Fujitsu Australia Limited business for the second half of the season, eventually finished 30th in points with Owen 33rd.
Owen and White left at the end of the year, replaced by Warren Luff and a shared second car for Fernandez and Tony Ricciardello. A fourth place in the reverse grid second race at Hidden Valley for Luff proved the season’s only true highlight in another difficult campaign.
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The Fujitsu support scaled back to a single car for Bright himself in 2007, with new team-mate Alan Gurr in IRWIN colours. Fernandez meanwhile moved back to to second-tier class with Fujitsu backing new team Prodigy Motorsport. Keen to show its support for young drivers, the air conditioning firm had taken naming rights of the Development Series a year earlier.
Both Bright and Fernandez enjoyed mixed seasons, with the former’s year derailed early by a practice accident at Barbagallo that took him out of the weekend and necessitated a switch to a borrowed BJR chassis for the following rounds. The team later came close to pulling off a major upset at Bathurst, with Bright well in contention before crashing in the closing stages. Bright eventually finished the year 21st in points; a result he would better by just two places the following season.
A major blow was to be dealt in December of 2008 when Ford pulled its significant support for the team a year out from the end of its five-year contract. The abrupt decision saw Bright and the loyal Fujitsu move to Stone Brothers Racing for 2009, initially running an out-dated BF Falcon. Switching to an FG for the second half of the season yielded two poles and a podium, with 19th again the final result.
Fujitsu had continued its involvement in the Development Series in 2008 and 2009, backing Damian Assaillit, among others, under first the Race Image and then MW Motorsport banners. The Queenslander broke through for a race win at Winton in the latter season before the sponsor switched its support to 16-year-old Scott McLaughlin and SBR for 2010.
The 2010 season also marked a major turning point for Fujitsu’s V8 Supercars Championship efforts. The company had come close to a deal with the Holden Racing Team before the late re-signing of Toll led the sponsor to Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Lee Holdsworth took Fujitsu to two top 10 season finishes and a single race victory over the following two years with the Holden squad. Team-mate Michael Caruso meanwhile recorded a best season result of 11th during his three seasons under the Fujitsu GRM banner.
The team’s current drivers Alexandre Premat and McLaughlin debuted in 2012 and 2013 respectively, with the latter doing so after claiming the 2012 Dunlop Series title in a Fujitsu-branded Matt Stone Racing prepared Ford. McLaughlin, who has been backed by Fujitsu since his selection in a 2008 Britek karting program, has since taken the sponsor’s first two main series race wins at Pukekohe and Ipswich.
Ending its naming rights deal of the Development Series at the end of 2011, Fujitsu’s Australian motorsport involvement currently includes backing of Carrera Cup driver Renee Gracie and the Fujitsu ‘Cool’ Driver development program. The company is expected to make an announcement on the future of those sponsorships within the next week.
See below for a pictorial summary of Fujitsu’s V8 Supercars efforts
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