News of a significant change in the ownership structure of the team broke last week with informed speculation suggesting Jess Dane had sold her 30 percent stake in the squad.
That has now been confirmed, with the team today announcing that the stake has been bought in partnership by Earl Evans and Steve Blackmore.
Evans and Blackmore joining the Triple Eight board, and Dane’s departure from the board, will all happen with immediate effect.
Evans and Blackmore arrive with significant experience in both business and motorsport. Evans is the CEO of Shaw and Partners and Blackmore the CEO of Southern Cross Truck Rentals, both backers of Erebus Motorsport during the title-winning heroics of last season.
Shaw and Partners and SCTR both then departed the team amid the Brodie Kostecki saga that rocked the category earlier this year.
Dane’s exit means, for the first time in Triple Eight‘s Australian history, the Dane family holds no stake in the famous squad.
Founder Roland Dane will, however, continue as non-executive chairman.
Other positions unaffected by the change are Jamie Whincup as managing director and Tony Quinn as majority owner, with his 40 percent compared to 30 percent for Whincup and the combined 30 percent for Evans and Blackmore.
“I’m thrilled to announce these exciting strategic changes as it prepares Triple Eight for the next phase of growth,” said Whincup.
“Firstly, we can’t ignore Jess’ enormous contribution to the team over her incredible tenure. She has been an invaluable member of the Triple Eight family since day dot working in all facets of the business.
“We understand Jess’s commitment to her career aspirations in the US, and we know she will always remain connected to the foundations her father [Roland Dane] built.
“In saying that, we are thrilled to welcome Earl and Steve to our shareholder group. Their wealth of business experience will enhance our team and support our continued evolution, strengthening our current programmes and engaging new opportunities. Their passion and expertise align perfectly with our vision for the future, and I’m excited to see where we can take it.”
According to lifelong Supercars fan Evans, the opportunity to buy into T8 was a “no-brainer”.
“I was looking for an equity stake in a Supercars team and a business of large scale and size that excelled outside of Supercars, in this case Triple Eight’s engineering and manufacturing entity,” he said.
“Obviously, the team’s success was an added attraction, and there’s certainly a challenge ahead to maintain that success, but at the end of the day it was a perfect fit for me.
“I’ve followed Supercars since I was very young. I’ve watched every Bathurst and every Sandown since I was five years old and have now followed the series for over five decades, so I know the sport very well.
“I had a taste of Supercars as a sponsor over the past couple of years, and the next logical step was to take an equity position and to take on ownership, that’s why I was looking around in the sport for an opportunity and that’s when this presented itself.
“Our job will be to sit on the board, and my role will be to support the current structure that’s been wildly successful in whatever way I can, whether that be in the commercial space, my business experience or other ways.
“Essentially, I will be there to support Jamie and the team to continue with its success – that’s my vison. I’ve been in business for 35-years and have a lot of contacts, so hopefully I can break open my rolodex to help the team however might be needed.
“Five thousand percent you will see my face at plenty of Supercars races into the future, I’m so excited to get stuck into it.
“I know this team is there to compete and win races at the end of the day, but to me, it was a natural progression to go from team sponsor to team owner, and when Triple Eight came along it was a no-brainer.”
Blackmore was equally driven by the desire to move from sponsor to investor in Supercars.
“Having owned multiple companies over the past 20 years, the prospect of buying into an established and successful business in Triple Eight Race Engineering was really exciting,” he said.
“Having had a passion for motorsport that goes back to my childhood, in recent years I had been involved as a personal sponsor of athletes in the sport and teams through my numerous businesses, which fuelled my desire to purchase an equity stake in a team.
“I had been looking for an opportunity to transition from sponsor to investor in the sport and the opportunity at Triple Eight was both a perfect opportunity and fit. Triple Eight is without peer in the sport in my opinion and it has a proven track record of delivering results that are consistently the best in motorsports in Australia.
“The opportunity to invest is achievable as the company is self-sufficient with its existing structure, processes and systems and I’ll be able to enjoy participating as a part owner whilst the business not being dependent on me to operate.”