OzJet joins FPR at Bathurst and beyond
Monday, October 3, 2005
Ford Performance Racing (FPR) announces that Australia's first all-business-class airline, OzJet, will join forces with the Prodrive team at Bathurst and for the following final three rounds of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.
In making this exciting sports marketing decision for his new Australian airline venture, OzJet Chairman and Minardi Formula One Team owner Paul Stoddart has selected FPR to broadly promote the OzJet brand to the Australian business sector.
The OzJet brand has already been prominently displayed in Formula One this year on the cars of Minardi, the long-established Italian-based team which Stoddart has agreed to sell to Red Bull on November 1.
The OzJet logo will be featured across the sides of the Ford Credit FPR Falcon being driven by Greg Ritter and Cameron McLean in this weekend's Bathurst 1000 and by Ritter for the remaining rounds of the season at Surfers' Paradise in Queensland, Symmons Plains in Tasmania and Phillip Island in Victoria.
According to Paul Stoddart, "Despite having spent most of my time outside Australia in the past 20 years I have always been a keen observer of the Australian racing scene and have noted the enormous growth of V8 Supercars in recent years. Like lots of people in the F1 Paddock, I've been an avid watcher of the V8 Supercars at Albert Park during the Australian Grand Prix.
"I did a bit of production saloon racing in Oz in the late 1970s but my most vivid recollections of that era are of seeing Allan Moffat and Peter Brock racing each other at Bathurst. I'm thrilled that this new association between OzJet and Ford Performance Racing will kick off at that famous venue and then extend to the final three rounds of the V8 Supercar series."
OzJet is hoping to begin flying within a few weeks once it receives its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), the licence to fly scheduled services in Australia, from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). OzJet's first Boeing 737, sourced from Stoddart's European Aviation fleet, was recently registered by CASA - a significant step towards the airline gaining its AOC.
OzJet is planning to begin services between Melbourne and Sydney with eight flights a day in each direction. The airline will start with three 737s, with plans to expand the fleet to up to 12 aircraft and services to Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane by mid-2006. OzJet's planes will be configured with 60 business-class seats exclusively and ticket prices will be based on traditional fully-flexible economy fares, offering true value and total comfort to Australian business travellers.
Far from staying away from the race track after five years of F1 team ownership, Stoddart is hoping to travel to the Gold Coast for Round 11 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series with FPR, making one of the OzJet 737s available for the trip. Time permitting, Stoddart will take on a role of FPR Team Ambassador while also using the high-profile Queensland event to promote the imminent launch of OzJet.
According to FPR Commercial Director Rod Barrett, "FPR is absolutely thrilled to welcome OzJet to the team, and to have OzJet founder and Formula One stalwart Paul Stoddart as our Team Ambassador at Indy if his hectic schedule allows. With OzJet launching in Australia soon and FPR experiencing its current resurgence the two of us can take-off together!"
http://fordracing.ford.com.au/content/news/view_news_item.asp?id=1488 http://www.v8supercar.com.au/news/latestnews/news_list.asp?ind=M
Comments
Makes sense to raise awareness of OzJet using the V8s, but it has no bearing here.
Bathurst is on the same day as Suzuka. Wonder if he will spend some time there on the weekend.
Bathurst is always exciting racing on a great track.
Last time I was there a roo (not the super type) tried to outpace one of the lead cars with unfortunate results.
Stoddie should be on a winner with his All Business Class. Just what jaded business travellers forced to fly on economy fares will jump at.
Spin
doesn't look like it. I doubt he would be in Bathurst when this will be the second last time he will be 'the boss' on the pitwall.
Maybe Pedders would be interested in sponsoring 'Minardi', after all their catch cry is 'No Bull!'