Super Black overhaul
NEW Zealand’s only Supercars team Super Black Racing is going through a major overhaul as it moves on from the death of its founder Tony Lentino.
Lentino passed away from cancer in July and the future of the team had been up in the air, as it was largely his money that financed the team.
While Chris Pither has been looking to make improvements on the track since then, behind the scenes, it’s been all go.
The Super Black Racing car has been prepared by Prodrive Racing Australia since they first got involved in the sport, at Bathurst in 2014.
PRA’s co-owner, Rusty French, was a good friend of Lentino and has bought the SBR’s Supercars racing licence from Lentino’s family.
French will allow SBR to use that licence next season, but there is still plenty to be sorted out for 2017.
A significant change to the team is Peter Martin coming on board as a member of the new management team.
Martin runs a number of motorsport categories in New Zealand, including the Targa Rally, and he intents to continue the ethos of the team, which is to help young Kiwi drivers.
Martin was also a good friend of Lentino and liked the idea of trying to give New Zealand drivers a helping hand into Supercars.
‘‘I was involved with him [Lentino] in terms of creating a foundation for the development of youth in New Zealand motorsport,’’ Martin said.
‘‘I have always had an involvement from the back guiding Tony in the direction and the ethos that was created with Super Black.
‘‘It’s very important right now, that we’ve got this little window of opportunity, to continue the theme of that development of children into motorsport and a pathway to a Kiwi team.’’
A top priority of Martin is to change the way the team is run and this could mean Super Black Racing moving away from being under the PRA umbrella and becoming more of a stand-alone team.
‘‘There are some structural changes that need to happen,’’ Martin said.
‘‘There is a narrow window of opportunity to convey to the New Zealand public that this is our flagship, we need to get behind this and support it.
‘‘We no longer have a philanthropic Tony Lentino, who’s prepared to throw his own cash into the pot.
‘‘We need to make sure there is the support from corporates and the general public in New Zealand.
‘‘There will always be the hero drivers [like Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin], but that’s not what this team is about. We’d love to be up on the front row, but it takes millions of dollars to get there and right now it’s about maintaining a presence and making sure we’re here for at least the next three years.
‘‘So that’s what I’m doing, I’m trying to cobble together what we’ve got in brand value over the last few years and transition that into a new direction.’’
After 2017, the team will need to find another licence to buy to stay in the category (which would cost about $1 million) and the long term plan is to become a two-car operation, where one driver is challenging for race wins and the other learns the ropes.
As for who will be driving the car next year, that’s something Martin and operations manager Greg Hahn are working through, but Martin did say consistency was a key factor for the team in the future.
‘‘There have been two other things that have been recognised, in the pursuit of getting other Kiwis into this game, we can’t put a driver in for a year and then take him out and put another one in. They have to be in for two years,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s very important that the structure is there to support the driver, so it’s not done on a whim and a prayer.
‘‘Not having that continuity is where a lot of the problems have come from.
‘‘The only way we can do that is to have a full ownership of the team, so we employ the mechanics, engineers and technicians.
‘‘In the transition phase the team principal, the head engineer and the driver all have to be employed and owned by Super Black, regardless of who the suppling contract is with to support the car.’’