hogs breath grill badge

[XR2DOOR]

TeamVodafone is running a polling to find out whether fans would like to add a bit of oomph – or oink – to their Fords.

The 2008 Championship team lost sponsorship from Ford at the end of last year, and with no obligations to run a Blue Oval badge on the front grille it teamed up with new sponsor Hog’s Breath Café to replace it.

The café’s mascot, Hogster, replaces the Ford badge on the cars of 2008 Champion Jamie Whincup and teammate Craig Lowndes and if demand is high enough, fans will be able to do it too.

TeamVodafone Commercial Operations Manager, Peter Jamieson, explained that the poll was a way for the team to canvass whether there was enough interest for a larger production run of the Hogster badges.

“We’ve had a lot of inquiries from fans – probably 40 or 50 so far – asking us to buy the badges,” he said.

“If it sounds like there’s an interest for us make them on a permanent basis we will.”

Jamieson said only 10 Hogster grille badges had been produced so far, and they were made only for the Whincup and Lowndes cars.

If the badges are produced, they would certainly make any Ford road car stand out and they may also be used in protest by TeamVodafone fans who are angry that Ford no longer supports their favourite V8 Supercar team.

The poll requires a yes or no vote to the question: “would you be interested in buying a Hogster badge similar to the one in the TeamVodafone grilles?”

It can be found on the team’s website www.teamvodafone.com and as of this afternoon, just over 70 per cent of people who voted said they would buy one.

While the Hogster grille badges will not be available at the Clipsal 500 this weekend, TeamVodafone has produced a whole new range of merchandise for 2009, which will be available at the circuit

[RG]

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