NGK TO PROVIDE SPARK TO THE PIRTEK RALLY TEAM - Brindabella Motor Sport Club

Jimbo · 31-01-2007, 12:26 PM

"One of the world's leading brands of spark plugs, NGK, has joined the Pirtek Rally Team for the 2007 NEC Australian Rally Championship season.

The title sponsor of the Rally of Melbourne, NGK has expanded its rally portfolio with the addition of the two-car Ford Fiesta team of Michael Guest and Darren Windus.

"We have been very pleased with our Rally of Melbourne sponsorship and were keen to look at other ways to increase our involvement," said Peter Hein Associate Director - Sales for NGK Australia.

"With the Pirtek Rally Team stepping-up with two all-wheel-drive entries in 2007, we viewed this as a great opportunity.

"Like the team, we are excited about what can be achieved in 2007. It would be nice for the team to be in a position to challenge at the NGK Rally of Melbourne later in the year."

The arrival of NGK is part of the ongoing development at the Pirtek Rally Team. Since December the team has expanded and been working on building the two Fiestas for the NEC Australian Rally Championship.

Expansion to the team has included chief engineer Glenn Rees, design engineer Dean Cowling, team leader Grant Howse, fabricator/technician Gavin Mosher and commercial manager Ben Beazley. The team will also draw input from former Subaru Motorsport Manager Greg Foletta who will be part of the organisation's V8 Supercar operations.

"There are still a few pieces to fall into place, but overall we are all working towards the first event on the Sunshine Coast," said Ben Beazley.

"As well as the build program here in Australia, there is a large amount of work being undertaken overseas with engines at Mountune in the UK and Sadev in France on the transmission side.

"Although Greg Foletta's role will be mainly focused on the V8 side of things, he will also provide valuable input on the Pirtek Rally Team.

"Having the V8 side of the operation working in conjunction with the Pirtek Rally Team is sure to provide dividends for both programs.

"On a commercial side we are working with a number of different partners to insure they get full value from being involved with an exciting program such as this."

The opening round of the 2007 NEC Australian Rally, the coates Rally Queensland will be run on 31 March - 1 April on the Sunshine Coast."

Peter Whitten · 31-01-2007, 02:08 PM

Hi guys,

Plenty of new ARC and ARCom news on the RallySport Mag website today - more to follow in the next couple of days.

Cheers
Peter

http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/

MikeW · 31-01-2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

The team will also draw input from former Subaru Motorsport Manager Greg Foletta who will be part of the organisation's V8 Supercar operations.

Quote:

"Although Greg Foletta's role will be mainly focused on the V8 side of things, he will also provide valuable input on the Pirtek Rally Team. Having the V8 side of the operation working in conjunction with the Pirtek Rally Team is sure to provide dividends for both programs.”

When did Greg leave Subaru? That was a bit quiet......

Peter Whitten · 31-01-2007, 03:55 PM

Mike,

Read the details on the RallySport Magazine site.

I believe he still has about a week to go at Subaru.

Regards
Peter Whitten

heyehy · 02-02-2007, 01:28 PM

so mike, what did the website say?

Ausrally · 04-02-2007, 12:59 PM

www.rallysportmag.com.au

There ya go, saved you two clicks on your keyboard.

Lyndall · 05-02-2007, 06:12 AM

Dallas,

A lot of us can't access commercial websites from work (due to internet policies, firewall blockages and the possibility of dismissal), so are grateful when others are able to copy onto the BMSC forum the full wording of such press releases.

Peter Whitten · 05-02-2007, 08:59 AM

Guys and Girls,

I'll put my magazine editor hat on for this one.

The only way that a FREE site such as RallySport Magazine can continue is if we get LOTS of traffic. That way, advertisers such as GIO Insurance see the value in advertising on our site because we have good traffic numbers.

While I understand the issues with firewalls and the like from work computers, copying full articles from other websites and submitting them to forums is, in my view, a quick fix.

We are putting a lot of effort into making sure that www.rallysportmag.com.au is the best rallying website in Australia, and at the end of the day, if people don't read the articles via our site, there's a big risk that the advertisers won't support the site, and ultimately, we all miss out.

Please consider!

Regards
Peter Whitten

MikeW · 05-02-2007, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyehy

so mike, what did the website say?

Not a lot really. Only that he was leaving and going to mainly be involved with the V8 program at Ford but they couldn't get a hold of him to comment.

I get the impression that no-one (publicly) knew he was leaving until the press release came out from Ford/NGK about the sponsorship deal and his involvement.

If you work in motorsport and you have the choice of staying at Subaru or going to Ford's V8 Supercar program, I know where the money and long term future is.

Peter, I check out your website every day to get my news on what is going on in the rally world. Do you reckon you guys could get an update (maybe pictures) on how Toyota and Ford are progressing on their repsective S2000 cars? Wasn't Ford hoping to be testing about now?

tortfeaser · 05-02-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Subaru Motorsport Manager, Greg Foletta, has joined Britek and will be a part of the Ford team’s V8 Supercar operations in 2007.

Greg Foletta (right) with Cody CrockerFoletta, a former Australian Rally Champion Co-driver with Cody Crocker, retired from competition at the end of the 2004 season to take up the role as Subaru Motorsport Manager, but has now resigned from that role to take up his posting at Britek.

"Although Greg Foletta's role will be mainly focused on the V8 side of things, he will also provide valuable input on the Pirtek Rally Team,” Ford commercial manager, Ben Beazley said today.

"Having the V8 side of the operation working in conjunction with the Pirtek Rally Team is sure to provide dividends for both programs.”

Foletta was unavailable for comment when contacted by RallySport Magazine today

.

heyehy · 05-02-2007, 05:36 PM

cheers. I dont turn the computer on at home anymore. lyndall, your right. having to deal with three on my desk, and over 400 servers on a daily basis, i dont want to touch a computer when i get home.

however that being said. mr whitten do you have a .mobi domain or a website that is readable on mobile devices? i frequently check my gmail on my imate jasjam using the 3g network, but many websites are not setup to be user friendly for mobile devices. This may be another way to generate more traffic.

Jimbo · 05-02-2007, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Whitten

Guys and Girls,

I'll put my magazine editor hat on for this one.

The only way that a FREE site such as RallySport Magazine can continue is if we get LOTS of traffic. That way, advertisers such as GIO Insurance see the value in advertising on our site because we have good traffic numbers.

While I understand the issues with firewalls and the like from work computers, copying full articles from other websites and submitting them to forums is, in my view, a quick fix.

We are putting a lot of effort into making sure that www.rallysportmag.com.au is the best rallying website in Australia, and at the end of the day, if people don't read the articles via our site, there's a big risk that the advertisers won't support the site, and ultimately, we all miss out.

Please consider!

Regards
Peter Whitten

Just going to pop my editors hat on as well then -

As editor for the club mag "Spokes" (which is made avalible to all BMSC club members), I have made an effort to have the various press releases sent to me, and then make these avalible for club members to read, by means of printing in Spokes, or by posting here on the clubs website.

In terms of re-posting another websites information here, such as rallysportmag, i agree it shouldn't be done - but will continue to post the various press releases for users of www.bmsc.com.au to see, as they are sent to me.

Cheers, James

Peter Whitten · 06-02-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyehy

cheers. I dont turn the computer on at home anymore. lyndall, your right. having to deal with three on my desk, and over 400 servers on a daily basis, i dont want to touch a computer when i get home.

however that being said. mr whitten do you have a .mobi domain or a website that is readable on mobile devices? i frequently check my gmail on my imate jasjam using the 3g network, but many websites are not setup to be user friendly for mobile devices. This may be another way to generate more traffic.

At this stage, we don't have this service available as there are quite a lot of extra costs involved in the process. Sorry.

Peter Whitten

michael taylor · 06-02-2007, 08:34 PM

By the way, for those who don't remember, Greg used to work for Ford before he went to Subaru.

He actually navigated for Steve Hoinville in Targa in an XR6 a few years ago.

AussieNav · 07-02-2007, 06:13 PM

Sorry but to clear up the issue saying that Subaru didn't know Greg was leaving until they read a Ford press-release is absolute bull$#!t. Greg is certainly smart enough to know not to burn any bridges in Motor Sport and I know for a fact it was a totally ammicable moving on.

Mikes also right above in saying Greg worked for Ford as an engineer for many years and I have personally heard his Ford engineering stories and ramblings on many occaisions, so I am sure he is excited to be returning.