Freightliner Trucks, part of the Daimler Truck & Bus group, will sponsor a Brad Jones Racing Commodore in the upcoming V8 Supercars season
In an increased involvement with Australian motorsport, Daimler Truck & Bus has announced that Freightliner Trucks will sponsor the Brad Jones Racing (BJR) team for the 2015 season.
The Freightliner partnership with the successful V8 Supercars team began midway through 2014 when Freightliner delivered two new Argosy prime movers to haul the Brad Jones Racing team Holden Commodores around Australia.
On November 27 Freightliner went one step further, taking the leading sponsors role on the Brad Jones’ car number 14, driven by Fabian Coulthard. The car was unveiled at a media event at Daimler headquarters in Mulgrave, Victoria.
As Daniel Whitehead, managing director of Daimler Truck and Bus in Australia says, “this represents our first foray in a major Australian sport”.
“On behalf of the entire Daimler Truck and Bus staff, what a privilege it is to be associated with the one of the most successful and long-serving motorsport teams in Australia,” Whitehead says.
“We relish what lies ahead in the coming season and beyond, but we know motorsport shows no mercy.
“There will be highs and lows, wins and losses, but above what we know, Brad Jones Racing will be giving 100 per cent effort, 100 per cent of the time. And as a major sponsor, we can’t ask for anything more than that,” Whitehead says.
“We’ll celebrate the good times, we’ll celebrate them hard.
“But above all, our venture into V8 Supercar Racing will provide the perfect platform for the Freightliner truck name in front of a massive national and indeed global audience,” he says.
“It will put our name in front of our customers and potential customers in places whenever they think of buying a truck. It will be the Freightliner name at the top of their list.”
For James Warburton, CEO of V8 Supercars, Freightliner’s involvement in the series was a breath of fresh air, following on Ford Australia’s decision to stop all financial support for V8 Supercars at the end of 2015.
“It’s absolutely brilliant to have such a wonderful company behind V8 Supercars,” Warburton says. “We have no doubt that we can do the job for you.
“I think you have chosen very well in terms of Brad Jones Racing. These guys have been around for a long period of time, they’re the ultimate professionals.”
The Freightliner Trucks/Brad Jones racing will make its public debut at the V8 Super Test in Sydney on February 7 and 8, and its competition debut at the 2015 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, which runs from February 26 to March 1.