Opes Prime roars still in the pits
By Mark Hawthorne The Age, 22nd April, 2008
FAST cars have been central to the Opes Prime saga.
Executive director Anthony Blumberg liked to drive them, Opes Prime subsidiary Hawkswood Investments imported them, and members of the Melbourne underworld, working on information obtained by Mick Gatto and John Khoury, have spent a week hunting some of them down.
The failed stockbroking firm was even fond of slapping its corporate logo on the side of any car that went fast around a race track, and therein lies the latest instalment of the Opes Prime affair.
Among the dozen cars to compete in Opes Prime livery was the Holden Special Vehicles Dealer Team Commodore, which raced in the V8 Supercar series.
The main car, driven by Rick Kelly, was dispatched to Hamilton in New Zealand for the latest round of the series last weekend, but it first visited the spray booth at HSV headquarters in Clayton.
After a new paint job, the Opes Prime logo on the bonnet was gone. So were the ones on the sides of the car.
It seems receivers Deloitte thought better of posting the next instalment of the sponsorship money to HSV.
You'd think a similar story would exist at all the Opes Prime teams - "bounced sponsorship cheque equals no logo on car" is a very old motor racing formula.
Except that another Opes Prime-backed racing team is running quite nicely, even though the main sponsor is in liquidation.
Back in December, Opes Prime signed a two-year deal to sponsor the Indianapolis-based Champ Car team Conquest Racing. The sponsorship deal allowed Conquest Racing to enter two cars in this year's high-profile IndyCar series.
"What fantastic news for the sport of open-wheel racing," said Opes Prime's Blumberg, a renowned petrol-head, after signing the deal with Conquest.
"This will certainly be an interesting and demanding year, but this team is ready to take on the task at hand and fight with the rest of them." While the HSV Dealer Team called in the spray painters last week, to remove the letters "OP" from its car, the IndyCar team did much better in the opposite direction. The Conquest Racing website www.conquestracing.com still shows both team cars in full Opes Prime-painted splendour.
US newspapers reported that the Opes Prime/Sangari car of driver Enrique Bernoldi finished fifth in St Petersburg, Russia, on April 13.
That race was held 17 days after Opes Prime went belly-up.
Indeed, while the freshly painted Commodore minus Opes Prime logos was racing in Hamilton at the weekend, a car was entered in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Car No.36, driven by Enrique Bernoldi, was officially listed as the Opes Prime Dallara-Honda-Firestone entry.
So, what's the key difference between the Australian and American racing teams? As part of the deal with Conquest Racing, Opes Prime executive director Anthony Blumberg bought an equity stake in the racing team. He owns a half-share in Conquest Racing, Full Disclosure is told.
"I'm proud to be associated with Conquest Racing for 2008 and beyond," Blumberg said after signing the deal, just before Christmas. "Conquest Racing is a team with whom we made our Champ Car debut at Surfers Paradise this year, giving me a taste of the American open-wheel scene.
"Our aim over the next couple of years is to develop and promote talent from within the junior formulae Australian and Asian Championships, and whilst our involvement with Conquest in no way guarantees a drive for any of those talented, young Opes Prime backed-drivers, it does provide an opportunity, which is what we are all about."
His new business partner, Conquest Racing chief executive Eric Bachelart, was equally excited about the new Australian partnership.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Opes Prime as partners with Conquest Racing," he said. "Although we have fielded competitive entries over the past five years in Champ Car with good results, the addition of Opes Prime and Anthony Blumberg offers us the opportunity to . . . plan for the growth required not just to compete but to win."
But maybe Bachelart will be less enthralled with his new partner when he checks the dates of Opes Prime's fall. ANZ Bank and Merrill Lynch called in the administrators, Ferrier Hodgson, on March 27.
Just 24 hours earlier, on March 26, Blumberg was busy talking up Conquest Racing's new season.
"We made it," Blumberg told a US motor sport website breathlessly. "It's been a crazy few weeks for everyone on the team getting ready not only for the two tests but to be in Homestead this weekend for the season opener. "We had successful tests in Sebring and Homestead that allowed us to gain important knowledge of the Dallara (chassis) but we are well aware that the learning curve will continue throughout the season.
"Nevertheless, the team has done an amazing job and is well prepared to take on this new chapter. It should be a very interesting season." Now, there's an understatement. Bachelart has since been briefed on the demise of his key sponsor and admits he is concerned. A legend of US motor sport, his racing team employs 30 people.
"It's a big concern, but I don't know what else to tell you right now," he said in a recent interview. "Of course, there have been some payments made (to the team), but there's some more to come."
While the cheques keep coming in, the cars will continue to run in Opes Prime livery.
That means more than a few interested parties will be checking out the starting grid for the Kansas Speedway Indy 300 race this Sunday, to see if the two Opes Prime-sponsored cars make it out for the race.
In the meantime, Bachelart should heed some advice from an Australian motor sport website.
"My tip - never get a sponsorship package from a financial-type company," posted one reader after Opes Prime's collapse. "Stick to good ol' booze or tobacco, I say."
Golf Australia, which took on MFS as sponsor of the Australian Open, could have heeded that one as well.