Phil Munday has completed a full takeover of Milwaukee Racing after buying out fellow shareholder Lucas Dumbrell.
Munday has confirmed the acquisition of the remaining 40 percent stake held by Dumbrell, who will remain involved with the team in an advisory role.
The outfit has enjoyed strong start to 2018, scoring four top 10 results with driver Will Davison, following its transition from LDM, which was run solely by Dumbrell from 2010-2017.
Munday had previously been a sponsor of the operation before becoming a team owner following the formation of 23Red Racing (Milwaukee Racing), which saw the former LDM team sell a Racing Entitlements Contract to Tickford Racing.
“The easiest way to put it would be that I’ve bought out Lucas’ share of what we’ve got, just on a mutual agreement so that Lucas can stay involved in a consultancy/advisory type role rather than a financial team owner role,” Munday told Speedcafe.com.
“It was more for Lucas because being a 60-40 split of course there’s a significant level of financial investment and, I guess, to save Lucas putting his money in there when he doesn’t have an income, and he has a large expenditure with his carers.”
Munday believes Dumbrell will still have a lot to offer the team moving forward with the advisory role a key component of the full ownership takeover.
“I said to Lucas, ‘I really want us to keep involved and be a part of what we’re doing going forwards,’ so I think with that advisory type role, he’s an exceptionally intelligent person and has a lot to offer,” he said of Lucas.
“For someone at his age and in his situation, I think he’s an absolute gun in what he can do and he can keep focused in life and be involved and a part of everything.
“I don’t know a lot about the workings of a motorsport team, whereas Lucas has done it for eight years and certainly had some ups and downs in there, but he understands the things that work and don’t work.
“When there’s a question or something I need to ask, it’s really nice to know that he’s got that knowledge.”
Munday says he initially plans to re-skin his current FGX to the Mustang body shape to before moving to brand new car midway through next year.
“At this stage we would reskin it to a Mustang and my plans would be, early- to mid-season, to have a brand new Mustang on the track, so hopefully Phillip Island, Perth, somewhere in that space there,” he added.
“It could be Winton next year, depending on the amount of cars in the build process for Tickford and where they sit with the orders for them.
“They’ve got a few to build, obviously, for themselves, and I’d certainly be having it next season to go into a new Mustang.”
With Munday’s background in the panel shop business, the team is already constructing components for its FGX and will continue to do so when the Mustang comes online.
Ford has confirmed that its customer model will allow teams to construct their own components for the Mustang, unlike the system currently in play for Holden teams, who purchase parts from homologation team Triple Eight.
“I think the beauty of that is that you’re going to not end up with a situation where it’s controlled by one entity,” he added.
“It’s got to be where the competitive opportunity is for people to compete against.
“Or as I said I think at the early stages, everyone’s got something to contribute to each part of that car, and then where the overall picture is, everyone can do what they need to do with parts
“The cost savings or the productivity gains can be made out of making parts are passed on to the engine tuner being the owners of the cars, is what we need to keep.
“The price of these cars is so expensive now that we need to be sensible and cognitive of how we can reduce the cost, not increase it.
“And I guess my life being panels, panel shops and panel works, it’s a pretty easy thing for me to say and our composite department’s grown from a very small thing to four guys down in there full-time.
“It’s a completely different animal to when we started at the start of the season.”
The squad heads west this weekend to contest the Perth SuperSprint.
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