Betty Klimenko joins the Auto Action team

Today, Auto Action announced that Betty Klimenko is joining Bruce Williams and Andrew Clarke in its ownership team. Bruce and Andrew will continue as the business’s directors in an equal partnership between the three owners—no one shareholder has a controlling interest.

All three owners of Auto Action share a commitment to and love of motorsport in Australia. They have been part of the industry for a very long time and have invested both their own time and money in it.

This year has allowed Betty to pause and reflect on her new goals in motorsport. She has achieved everything she set out to achieve. There were a few moments this year when she considered selling the team and looked at what other avenues may have existed to continue her involvement in the sport she loves—that is when this opportunity came up.

Now, she has realised the two opportunities can coexist. She will not be selling the team, and she is committed and passionate about Erebus Motorsport.

Separately, there is an opportunity at Auto Action to reinvigorate, look to the future, and add her voice to its direction alongside Bruce and Andrew.

Her passion is to provide opportunities for the future stars of the sport. Whether that be drivers, mechanics, engineers, or commercial staff – this focus will flow through into both what Erebus Motorsport is doing and the direction of Auto Action into the future will also reflect this, as it has in the past from its support of people like Oscar Piastri to 19-year-old Campbell Logan in the latest edition.

Betty and Bruce have put their money in the past behind young talent. Betty has created a massive legacy of promoting young talent in Australian motorsport, and the current Supercars field has several drivers who have benefitted from the support of Betty and a development program via Erebus Motorsport.

As a long-time racer, Bruce Williams has also run a junior development program in the Toyota 86 Series for young and emerging drivers.

This shared vision has encouraged Betty to join the ownership group. As the team formalises its vision, there will be plenty of innovative programs to help develop and support young talent both on and off the track we explore here.

For Bruce and Andrew, embracing Betty into the ownership team represents the next and newest phase for Auto Action. Bruce bought Auto Action in 2016 and relaunched the title. Andrew has only been writing for the magazine for three years and joined the ownership group earlier this year.

To be clear, this is a private deal with Betty and unrelated to her ownership of Erebus Motorsport. We will continue to treat Erebus the same way we would any other team.

As Betty recently said, “If we (Erebus) deserve a clip, then you need to deliver it.”

It is important to rate us based on what we do, not what you think we will do or what you would do.

This is an exciting new phase for Auto Action, which has been the bible of Australian motorsport for more than 50 years. Recently, Auto Action has started delivering digital magazines to various partners.

We believe we have the respect of the people that matter, and we will continue to earn the trust of our loyal readers.

Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

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