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Supercars boss Sean Seamer says the impending arrival of the Ford Mustang in the series next year has sparked interest from new manufacturers.
The return of factory backing from Ford coinciding with confirmation of the first two door body shape to race in Supercars, under the category’s Gen2 rules, has thrown the spotlight on the championship.
Last month Ford Australia gave the green light for the Blue Oval’s hero car to be developed and homologated to race next season, in association with Ford Performance in America and Supercars teams DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing.
Since the announcement racing two door body shapes has proven a hot topic triggering talk that the Chevrolet Camaro and maybe the Nissan GT-R could follow suit.
Seamer believes the Mustang has breathed life into the championship’s pit lane while revealing it has piqued interest with manufacturers currently not competing in the series.
“There is some interest around how we’ve done it, body shapes, induction methods, so yeah, it (the Mustang) has big interest, from new manufacturers and new fans as well,” Seamer told Speedcafe.com.
“I’m spending a lot of time talking to a lot of manufacturers, playing a very active role; whether they are existing participants, whether they are interested, or whether they’re not interested.
“I will continue to maintain manufacturer relationships, and as their product cycles change and the products that they have change then their ability to get value out of the sport changes, so I’ve got to maintain relationships with everybody.
“But like I say, I’m just here to make their life as easy as possible if they want to come racing with us.
“The Mustang is a cultural icon and that’s absolutely breathed a bit of life into pit lane and across the fans.
“Most importantly, because the car’s so iconic, it opens us up to a new fan base; that’s the most important thing.”
The Chevrolet Camaro has emerged as a contender to join the Supercars grid in the future with Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) confirming it is assessing the possibility of developing the model.
HSV boss Tim Jackson told Speedcafe.com this week that an extensive feasibility study is underway.
Seamer is also open to seeing variety on the Supercars grid in the future.
“I think the future for us is to be as open as possible to work with manufacturers and teams to race as many variants and variations of cars as they want,” he said.
“It gives us the opportunity to move with the automotive industry.
“I think it’s still too early to say whether it’s going to be all four-doors or all two-doors, but obviously variety’s good, it’s good for the fans, and it’s something that we welcome.”
It remains to be seen if other manufacturers or models will be enticed to join the championship off the back of the Mustang announcement.
