Nine of the 10 Ford drivers travelled to Tasmania early this week for an overnight team building event in the Wineglass Bay area.
Grove Racing’s Matt Payne was the only exception due to a last-minute and unavoidable scheduling conflict.
The summit included meals together and team building activities, such as building billy karts.
Ford’s driver group was joined by local motorsport representatives Ben Nightingale and Brendan McGinniskin.
The event was inspired by the Ford Performance approach in the US, where similar all-in retreats are mandated for the NASCAR drivers.
“It was the first of the driver team-building retreats here in Australia,” Nightingale to Speedcafe.
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“It’s something that’s been really successful for Ford Performance in the US with the NASCAR drivers, it’s something they do a couple of times a year over there. We wanted to emulate that here.
“The idea, really, is to bring them all together. They are all rivals on-track and they will continue to be rivals on-track, but what we’re trying to foster is a situation where, when they’re racing each other on-track, they want to win themselves, and if they can’t win, they want their teammate to win.
“And if their teammate can’t win, make sure another Ford wins.
“That’s potentially particularly important when we get to the Finals later in the year.”
A manufacturer-led approach to team building is not entirely new to Supercars, with Holden well known for its social events for drivers, particularly under the watch of former motorsport boss Simon McNamara.
Interestingly, McNamara has now re-joined the General Motors fold at a time that GM is looking to emulate Ford’s approach to the modern Supercars era.
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