Ford set to exit V8 Supercars

Ford is dead, according to high-level V8 Supercars officials - and Australia's greatest sporting rivalry will be killed off by the end of next year.

In a Bathurst bombshell delivered on the week the last GT Falcon was built, News Corp Australia can reveal Ford is set to axe V8 Supercars from its $60 million sponsorship war chest in a move that will end the Ford versus Holden racing wars at Mount Panorama.

With the Falcon already dead and waiting to be buried, V8 officials have been told Ford will officially quit the sport and not renew a multimillion-dollar deal with reigning Bathurst champions Ford Performance Racing (FPR).

Ford will remain on the grid next year when FPR and Penske/Dick Johnson Racing give the Falcon a one-year stay of execution. Plans are already underway to turn the FG X - the last Falcon - into a V8 Supercar. But then the legend, forged by Ford warrior Dick Johnson, will be dead.

This weekend's Bathurst 1000 is shaping as the penultimate 1000km fight between Ford and Holden.

Mark Winterbottom will look to continue the Blue Oval's famous Mount Panorama history by upsetting Holden great Jamie Whincup.

News Corp Australia has been told six Ford Falcons have been confirmed to race in next year's series. Both FPR and Penske-DJR will hit the grid with the new FG X that will not be funded by Ford.

Then it's curtains for the 22-year-old Falcon vs Commodore war made famous by Johnson and Peter Brock.

Ford's future in the sport has been under a heavy cloud since the American giant announced the Falcon would be axed in 2016 and Ford's Australian factory closed.

Ford signed a one-year deal with FPR a day before Winterbottom held off Whincup to land the Blue Oval a famous drought-breaking Bathurst win.

Amid a global restructuring and plummeting car sales in Australia, Ford has remained uncommitted to motorsport, instead spending its marketing budget on television shows that include The Voice and The Bachelor.

The pleas of V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton to Ford have fallen on deaf ears. "We have two teams who will race Ford in 2015, even if they will not be factory-backed," Warburton said.

"We have consistently made our case to Ford not only for 2015 but well into the future. They know exactly where we are going and the huge benefits we can deliver.

"We'd obviously love to have them continue in the sport." FPR last night said it was still negotiating with Ford and had not given up on securing a new one-year deal. The team remains hopeful of receiving some level of factory support.

"We are still in the fight," an FPR insider said.

Holden's future on the grid is assured after the Australian manufacturer signed new deals with the Holden Racing Team (HRT) and Red Bull Racing Australia.

Despite suggestions early this year that Holden would also quit the sport after deciding to close down its Australian operations, the Red Lion will, with HRT, join Red Bull Racing Australia as full factory-backed Holden teams.

Garth Tander, James Courtney, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup will be their four all-star drivers.

But the future of the Commodore still remains clouded beyond 2016. The car is facing the axe when Australian manufacturing stops.