Known primarily for its involvement with Subaru in the World Rally Championship, British engineering firm Prodrive entered the V8 Supercars Championship in 2003 as the factory Ford team.
After purchasing Glenn Seton Racing at the start of 2003, Prodrive set about putting its technical prowess to good use in V8 Supercars by becoming the factory Ford squad just as the BA Falcon was introduced.
Prodrive already had experience in a variety of disciplines including the British Touring Car Championship through its alliances with BMW, Honda and Ford, a successful stint in rally partnering Subaru, plus a winning record at Le Mans with Ferrari.
Led by former rally co-driver David Richards, the team came a decade before Roger Penske arrived as co-owner of Dick Johnson Racing, which occurred before Michael Andretti, Zak Brown and Richard Dean entered into an agreement with Ryan Walkinshaw.
Not only did Prodrive run the V8 Supercars team, but it also entered a joint venture to produce the Ford Performance Vehicles range including the GT, GT-P and Pursuit ute were later joined by turbo variants following its purchase of Tickford.
“We have spent nearly a year assessing the championship and looking for the right opportunity and package to enter the Australian series,” said Hugh Chambers, then-Prodrive group marketing director.
“This has meant we are now coming into the 2003 season very late with only five weeks until the first race and it will be a real challenge to get the cars prepared within this time frame. However, in the longer term, this will mean a much better chance to develop a competitive car based on the new BA Falcon with a driver line up which can challenge for the title in 2004.”
At the time, Prodrive was running Subaru’s World and USA rally programs, was at the helm of the BAR Formula 1 Team in addition to the Ferrari 550 GTS campaigns across the world.
Former team owner Glenn Seton, star Craig Lowndes and David Besnard spearheaded the team, but it proved less than successful. Due in part to the lateness of the deal and also the lack of development.
The turnaround began in 2005 and became a regular front-running squad until it was sold in by Prodrive in 2013.