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Falcon500
04-26-2004, 06:24 AM
Procar Australia Ceases Operations

23/4/2004:
MOTOR racing organiser PROCAR Australia announced today it is ceasing operations immediately.

Ross Palmer, Chairman and founder of the Brisbane-based company, said a meeting of directors today unanimously agreed to a strategic withdrawal from the industry.

PROCAR, founded in 1994, staged the PROCAR Champ Series events and four motor racing series, the Australian Nations Cup Championship, Australian GT Performance Championship, Australian Production Car Championship and V8 BRutes Series.

Mr Palmer said PROCAR Australia has been supported in the past by substantial subsidy both from him personally and businesses within the Palmer Group, a situation which could not be sustained.

PROCAR will consult with its competitors and other constituents next week to seek input on the future of the company’s intellectual properties, including the racing categories.

From the pro car australia website

It seems that australias 2nd biggest raceing organizer is packing it in...without this series we loose the nations cup races,GT-P (production series of raceing),aus F3..and a few smaller catigorys based on power to weight and the futer racers. It also hang a large black cloud over our bathurst 24 hour....what a sad day it is....Prehaps avesco might be willing totake over this..but of course their shcedules are already very fullowning v8 supercars,konica/minolta v8 super cars,formula ford,historic racers,aussie chmap car (little motrobike powerd cars that are kewl :cool: ),MG cup,Carrera cupa dnt eh proposed lotus cup....but this is a serious blow im loosing my faveorite catigory GT-P,and nations cup :( and there are going to be alot more unemployed race car drivers over this way soon...

fpv_gtho
04-26-2004, 06:29 AM
I think AVESCO have the potential to control GT-P, Nations Cup, V8 BRutes etc. and it could also get better viewing with exposure on channel 10. In a good way though, if AVESCO were to take it over, they could expell the 427 Monaro's from the category

motorsportnerd
04-26-2004, 06:44 AM
I was wondering when someone would start this thread. I heard the announcement on RPM yesterday afternoon and was a little gob smacked. I had a look at both the Procar and Bathurst 24 hour announcements, and yes there was the announcement.
I then had a browse of the forums of the Procar site. It seems that there might be a new consortium being set up to take over the running of the series. If you believe what you read in forums (and some of the statements on Procar's website look like they're from some people in the know), then Peter Brock has got something to do with the consortium and Channel 7 is planning to cover the Bathurst 24 hour race.
I guess we'll have to stand by for any announcements. Whatever happens, I suspect that GTP will remain and be absorbed by AVESCO if necessary. It is the only front line touring car catagory in Australia where manufacturers other than Ford and Holden can have a play. And it has been very successfull in terms of manufacturer support (Mitsubishi, Subaru, VW and limited support from Ford), competitor numbers and close, excellent racing between a variety of marques. If the rumoured new consortium doesn't happen lets hope AVESCO takes over GTP.
And lets hope something is done to save the Bathurst 24 hour. Heard rumours of a company such as Octogan taking over management and promotion rights. Things need to be in place soon if overseas teams are to be attracted though.

Falcon500
04-29-2004, 06:21 AM
Octagon? whats an octagon? (and for them smartassesitching to answer i know its a shape)

As i mentionedabovemaybey avesco doesnt want it? their plates already full...ofcourse they can get more to follow around the konicas...konicas and GT-P and v8s and nations cup prehaps....it seems the nations cupfieldconsists of about 7 entrys :eek: what a bleak bleak outlook.

fpv_gtho
04-29-2004, 06:29 AM
all i know about octagons ar etheyre an 8 sided shape, never heard about the company motorsportnerd was refering to though......

as for peter brock getting involved somehow, i guess its believable, hes now controlling the monaro's after GRM gave up controlling the team so he wouldnt be all that easy in letting the category slide into nothing just after hes made the big investment

Falcon500
04-29-2004, 07:08 AM
well about half the feld where monaros pretty (hes still there?) brock and young brock jbs left cricks nowhwere to be seen stokells dominatins...as usual from last year prettys in second and if i rember correctly their is a new driver in the 550 from phr in 3rd...the majority of the field are on the podium! :eek: this is heart breaking :mad:

motorsportnerd
04-29-2004, 07:10 AM
Go to www.procar.com.au. The third round of the Nations Cup series will go ahead as planned.
Some sort of interim management and administration structure has been put in place to run Sandown and try and put in place a structure for the rest of the series.
Also take a look at http://svc008.bri7h.webmetrix.com.au/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=2&Forum_Title=Nations+Cup&Topic_Title=Procar+shuts%2Dup+shop&CAT_ID=10&FORUM_ID=29&TOPIC_ID=3575.
The piece I referred to about Peter Brock is mentioned in this thread. I think he may have been referring to the interim management structure which has just been announced.

Also, Octagon is a sports marketing company. They were involved with marketing the Bathurst 1000 when it was run by the Australian Racing Drivers Club (which was up to 1996 for V8s and 1997/98 for the Super Tourers). They were also Peter Brock's management company at one stage. If you're interested their website is http://www.octagon.com. The are the promoters for Targa Tasmania.