McNamara heading to Supercars – Super Ute program.

Long-term Holden Motorsport boss Simon McNamara could be heading to Supercars.

Rumours about his future have been swirling around the Holden executive’s future for more than a fortnight, with Auto Action breaking news of his imminent departure from Fishermans Bend.

Now it seems that McNamara is likely to become the head of the all-new Super Ute program after championing the category for four-door, diesel one-tonners during his time with Holden.

There is no confirmation yet of McNamara’s future, or his HMS technical manager Peter Harker, or even their split from Holden.
But industry sources have been suggesting for some time that McNamara would be moving to Supercars in an executive capacity and the Super Ute category looks like a good fit.

A shake-up in the marketing division at Holden and a concentration on future imported models and younger female buyers has certainly had a huge impact on the company’s support for motorsport.
Since his appointment in 2004 to head up Holden’s futurMotorsport department and despite a significant reduction in its motor racing budget ­– believed to be more than 60% from the early/mid 2000s – McNamara has presided over the most successful period in Holden’s long motor racing history.
He oversaw the introduction of the VE and VF Commodores (the most winning models in Australian touring car history), eight Bathurst 1000 wins, and the past seven straight manufacturers titles for the Lion badged brand.
McNamara is also the man credited with putting the original Holden/Triple Eight deal together shortly after Ford unceremoniously dumped the Roland Dane-run organisation in a major shock during the 2008 season.

Holden-based Supercar teams are expressing concern and frustration about who will be their future liaison with Holden for ongoing parts and technical support.
Harker was the go-to man for the technical support and was working closely with GM Racing in the United States on Holden’s crucial V6 twin turbo Gen 2 Supercars engine program.

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