[Tourer]

Originally Posted by V8 Fireworks

Yet there is BMW M and Audi Sport signage all over the Bathurst 12 hour, and Porsche are even willing to supply the electric ATCC safety car.

So what is missing to get them to further increase their involvement in Australian touring car racing and Supercars?

Pretty simple and very, very obvious really.

For starters, extending an existing international program into a one-off 12 hour race is pretty easy - just need to fly (or float) the car(s) & gear here, fly in the crew, adjust the budget and get on with it. Committing to development of a car and multiple seasons is a vastly larger financial commitment.

Same goes for provision of a Safety Car (Audi has done that in the past too). It isn't a big cost to the manufacturer and provides some brand exposure with no risk of being beaten.

Then there's brand risk - if Audi or BMW or Porsche competed in Supercars, if they win then the reaction is "well of course they won - they're high end performance cars - a Camaro or Mustang shouldn't get anywhere near them" but if they get beaten, then its "those German cars aren't all that special after all - beaten by Camaros and/or Mustangs" and they get a big hit on their desirability and market position. Big risk to take and one that requires a high level of commitment. BTW, Toyota found this out the hard way after spending over a billion per year in F1 - didn't win a single race and their own market research showed that the brand was taking a pummelling and consider a "loser" brand - no wonder they got out of F1.

Those are just a few of the reasons.