MEMBERS IN MOTORSPORT
PENRITE: DRIVING FORWARD INNOVATION ON ALL LEVELS From state and national partnerships to those on the international stage, Australian owned and operated Penrite Oil is a key player in the world of motorsport A range of partnerships across an array of disciplines not only delivers marketing benefits to the leading Australian company, but also a raft of technical advantages for not only Penrite Oil and its R and D department, but also for its customers both in motorsport and the consumer/retail space. “Penrite offers various levels of sponsorship across a range of platforms from international, national and state-based to local community and grassroots focused partnerships,” Penrite Oil Director of Motorsport and Corporate Partnerships Manager, Jarrod Harding, explains. “Our aim is to support as many series, teams, individuals, communities and charitable causes as we can. Unfortunately, we cannot support them all, so it is a matter of sharing things around to do the most good when and where we can. “Of these programs, our most successful is the Penrite Brand Ambassador program. Each year Penrite Oil sponsors more than 160 Brand Ambassadors in all forms of motorsport across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe.” Many would look at partnerships in motorsports and assume the key benefit to the company providing the support is mainly marketingrelated. However for Penrite, the benefits of these relationships run much deeper than that. “At last count we have over 500 products and it makes sense for us to be active across a lot of different spaces which relate to these differing product ranges,” Jarrod said. “At the top end of competition – such as with our Penrite Racing Supercar program and our Superbike team – we can focus on really testing our products at an elite level under pretty harsh racing conditions. “At the more local level, we can work closely with our ambassadors to gather that finer detail out of how our products perform under a wider range of real world conditions. “Our racing program certainly allows us to do a huge amount of work testing all of our products, and the best thing about ambassadors is they give you real feedback – the beauty too about being an Australian family-owned company is that we can grab the boss and the next day be discussing improvements or new products based off that feedback. 98
Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine March 2021
“At the end of the day, the real benefit to our customers is that if we are constantly testing and refining our products in this way, they can have confidence our products will well and truly exceed their needs.” One of the most well-known partnerships for Penrite Oil is the one it holds with David Reynolds, who the company has followed to a new team and new marque in the Supercars championship for 2021 and beyond. “Our partnership with Dave has been in place since he joined the Erebus Motorsport team back in 2016,” Jarrod explains. “Being a family owned and operated business, Penrite is obviously not your typical oil company and at our core, our business values are more on the conservative side and are certainly driven with a high importance and focus placed on family values. “When Dave initially joined the Erebus team, we were a bit apprehensive as we knew he was a good driver and a fan favourite but there had been a bit of negative press due to Dave’s off the cuff humour.
“However, five minutes after meeting Dave you realise, he is just a regular down to earth bloke. What you see is what you get which really resonates with our customers and staff. Over the years our partnership has greatly evolved to the point where our trade and retail customers are now heavily involved in the direction of our motorsport journey. “Dave has slotted into our company dynamic and has become a face for the brand who is very personable with staff and customers alike. “The relationship is so strong that with Dave making the move to Kelly Grove Racing for 2021 and beyond, we have also made that move – swapping across to a new team and from the Holden to a Ford Mustang. It is certainly a big change, but it is one which will offer us real benefits behind the scenes.” In elaborating on these expected benefits, it is clear Jarrod and the entirety of Penrite Oil has some big plans in place for the future. “The Kellys’ have a tremendous technical capability – they manufacture a number of
