{"id":495024,"date":"2026-02-21T16:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T16:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495024\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T16:48:17","slug":"ex-commentator-neil-crompton-explains-new-supercars-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495024\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-commentator Neil Crompton explains new Supercars role"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018Washing
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNeil Crompton at SMP. Image: Richard Gresham <\/p>\n

The long-time voice of the sport has been cut from the TV broadcast this year as part of a shake-up that also included the removal of Mark Skaife.<\/p>\n

Crompton is officially on site at Sydney Motorsport Park to oversee the management of the GR Cup season opener, which his business has long managed.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s also spending time with BJR, having recently taken up a consulting role with the squad run by his long-time friend.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good. It\u2019s a restoration of something that I did a couple of moons back,\u201d said Crompton of a return to a team role.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different and it\u2019s exciting. We\u2019re old friends, you know, we started racing together a long time ago on dirt bikes, and we\u2019ve been in parallel for a long period of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I know all the people here very well. It\u2019s a very different world for me, but one that I\u2019m looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Andre Heimgartner\u2019s BJR Supra on track. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n

Crompton has been largely brought into BJR to look at a bigger-picture business strategy, but is lending a hand wherever required.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night at one o\u2019clock in the morning I\u2019m washing driver race suits and jocks, so things have gone downhill!\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

Crompton noted he\u2019ll be in both the BJR and Walkinshaw TWG garages during the weekend as the two squads debut their new Toyota Supras.<\/p>\n

A Toyota ambassador for the last 18 years, Crompton has been the architect of the company\u2019s long-awaited Supercars entry and is now watching a long-term dream come to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the third time lucky. This conversation\u2019s come up a couple of times,\u201d he said of convincing Toyota to go Supercars racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhil Harrison, who\u2019s been a long-time loyal soldier who works in my office, dropped a document that I\u2019d completely forgotten about from 10 or 15 years ago on my desk just recently covering this very topic and I re-read it just for fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toyota V8 engine program \u2018more complex\u2019 than anticipated<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Toyota\u2019s Supercars entry adds to the company\u2019s existing Australian motorsport commitments in the GR Cup and Australian Rally Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hugely satisfying linking ARC and what Neal, Harry, and Lewis [Bates] have done so successfully for so long, so proudly for Toyota, together with GR Cup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on the creative accounting, there\u2019s either 10 or 11 drivers in the Supercar field this year that have graduated from that category.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow having that grassroots feeder to feed into this [Supercars effort]\u2026 it would be very close to the single biggest investment in motorsport by an OEM.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crompton stressed the driver \u201cpathway\u201d now in place from GR Cup to Supercars was one of the aims of former Toyota marketing VP Sean Hanley.<\/p>\n

Hanley was the front-man for Toyota\u2019s V8 entry before departing the role at the start of 2026, but is also trackside in Sydney for the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that aggravated Sean was effectively training drivers and handing high quality operators off to other OEMs,\u201d said Crompton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019re gonna put a stop to that!\u201d<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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