Members in Motorsport

SUPERCHEAP AUTO BACKS TCR AUSTRALIA

The popular retailer has been announced as the naming rights partner of the series for the next five years

A new long-term partnership has been announced between the Australian Racing Group (ARG) and Supercheap Auto, which will see “Australia’s most recognised retailer of automotive parts and accessories” as the naming rights partner of the TCR Australia Series. For five years commencing in 2021, Australia’s version of the global TCR (Touring Car Racing) formula will be known as the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series.

The 2021 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will take in six rounds, with every race of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series to be televised live and free on the channels of the Seven Network. Supercheap Auto will also partner the V8powered S5000 open wheel category competing for the Australian Drivers’ Championship and Motorsport Australia Gold Star in 2021. The new partnership continues Supercheap Auto’s long-standing commitment to Australian motorsport, where it has successfully supported race teams and major events for close to 25 years. “As an Australian owned retailer, we are proud to continue investing in Australian Motorsport,” Supercheap Auto Managing Director, Benjamin Ward, said. “The TCR series with its diverse range of turbocharged touring cars deliver fantastic racing and with the broadcast of every race now on free to air television – this is accessible to all Aussie motorsport fans.” Supercheap Auto has over 300 stores across Australia and New Zealand and specialises in automotive parts and accessories and also stocks tools and accessories for the DIY home handyman and products for travel, touring, outdoors, garage and the shed.

For more from Supercheap Auto, visit www.supercheapauto.com.au

ZF AND SACHS: “MOTORSPORT IS IN OUR DNA”

Motor racing at the very highest levels can subject components to the absolute extremes of performance, temperature and durability that cannot be replicated in laboratories or test environments

According to ZF, this is why ZF Aftermarket and its Sachs brand have been synonymous with global motorsport since 1923. ZF utilises the Sachs motorsport program as a development platform for its range of original equipment and aftermarket shock absorbers and clutches, and as validation of their performance and durability. Formula 1, World Rally Championship, Formula E, sports car competition, DTM German Touring Cars, off-road racing, drifting, and the Supercars Championship have all witnessed this proactive development and testing of Sachs products. Every year more than 10 million vehicles fitted with Sachs shock absorbers roll off assembly lines around the world in an impressive demonstration of ZF’s credibility and compliance as an original equipment supplier. This extensive product catalogue manifests itself into a local range of more than 2,500 aftermarket shock absorbers, together with a further 350 strut mounts and bearings, and 200 bump stops and boot kits. Shock absorber fitments are available for performance cars, family cars, SUVs, trucks, trailers and light commercial vehicles, with the specialised Sachs MAX range for 4x4, off-roadvehicles and light commercial vehicles. Clutches too are a core product from ZF’s Sachs brand, with more than 1,500 units on offer. Like its shock absorbers, ZF says Sachs clutches have a long history of performance and durability validation in all manner of motor racing, including Formula 1 and locally in Supercars. Sachs clutches can be ordered from ZF Services Australia individually or as installation kits. These kits include a pressure plate, clutch disc and release bearing, as well as special grease for ease of assembly.

Sachs and Australian Motorsport

Think Australian motorsport and you think Craig Lowndes. A long time Ambassador of the brand, Craig has recently taken on the role of Product and Technical Expert for Sachs. Craig has raced with Sachs products dating back to 2005, with the relationship providing numerous highlights, including six Bathurst 1000 victories, a total of 58 Supercars Championship race wins and 164 podium finishes. Highly popular within the Sachs customer base, Craig’s background as a trained motor mechanic resonates strongly with those operating in the workshop environment, with exclusive meet and greet experiences planned throughout 2021, further connecting the face of the brand to end users. With his intimate knowledge of the products, Craig is currently hosting a summer campaign promoting the Sachs MAX big bore range of shock absorbers, with a video series of helpful tips, ensuring Australians get the most out of their fourwheel drive adventures. The clips can be viewed via the Sachs and ZF Services Australia social media channels between December and February, with further information available at www.sachsmaxshocks.com.au In keeping with the theme, Craig has been used as a conduit to connect his motorsport fan base to the Sachs MAX products via the online giveaway of Sachs Summer Packs, featuring a range of camping accessories. By drawing on his motorsport experience into everyday driving, Craig is essentially in line with ZF’s global engineering team, who are constantly applying lessons learned in the motorsport arena for use in the passenger vehicle range of products.

For detailed application information on the full Sachs range, visit www.sachsprovenperformance.com or contact ZF Services Australia via 1800 ZF SALES (93 72537).

DAVID REYNOLDS, PENRITE OIL JOIN KELLY GROVE RACING

David Reynolds will contest the #26 Penrite Racing Ford Mustang for the team

David Reynolds is a highly accomplished driver with multiple race wins to his name, including a Bathurst 1000 win in 2017. David’s Ford Mustang will be backed by Australian family-owned and operated oil company Penrite. Alistair McVean, who has a long-standing relationship with David, has been appointed to Kelly Grove Racing to engineer the #26. Penrite’s state of the art production facility is based in south east Melbourne, only a short drive from Kelly Grove Racing’s headquarters in Braeside. It produces a range of locally developed 10 Tenths motorsport-developed lubricants for maximum performance and protection to ensure Kelly Grove Racing’s V8 engines continue to perform flawlessly on the racetrack, and work is already underway between Kelly Grove Racing’s in-house engine department and Penrite’s technical team to develop a range of oils and lubricants suited to the team’s Ford Mustang Supercars. With Penrite founded in Melbourne in the year 1926, David will adopt the number #26 for his Penrite-backed Ford Mustang. “I’m unbelievably happy to be joining Kelly Grove Racing for the 2021 season and beyond. It’s obviously a very exciting time for the team with the recent investment from the Grove Group and I believe the team has the resources and firepower to achieve great things this year and continue building on some of the success we saw last year,” David said. “I think we’re on the cusp of something really awesome at Kelly Grove Racing, the infrastructure and culture that’s in place has already really impressed me and I’m excited for the 2021 season. “It’s awesome for me to have a few familiar faces also join the team with Alistair to engineer my side of the garage and obviously Penrite continuing to back my car which is awesome. “Penrite have been a big supporter of mine over the years, they’re family to me so I’m looking forward to continuing that great relationship.”

For more from Penrite, visit www.penriteoil.com.au

BURSON AUTO PARTS DOUBLES UP IN 2021

The supplier of parts, accessories, tools, and equipment will field two TCR Australia cars

Highly experienced former Supercar race winner and Bathurst 1000 champion Jason Bargwanna will compete in the Burson Auto Parts Racing Peugeot 308 TCR, while his son Ben will make his TCR Australia Championship debut in a uniquely liveried second Burson Auto Parts Racing Peugeot 308 TCR, with both cars prepared and raced by Garry Rogers Motorsport. This doubles up Burson Auto Parts’ motorsportbased marketing efforts together with supplier sponsors Dayco, Wesfil, Fuchs, Hella, Hella Pagid, Sachs, Bosch, and Premier Auto Trade. “We have worked closely with Burson Auto Parts and together we have aligned our goals and I am very excited to expand to a two-car program for the 2021 season,” Jason said. “Ben now makes the step to TCR and I am so proud of him. From his first Kart race meeting at Gippsland Kart Club, as a 10-year-old, when he spent every lap of his first race waving to mum and I as he drove past, to the day the penny dropped and he realised what winning was all about, to watching him drive out of pit lane in the Burson Auto Parts Peugeot at the pre-season test, really formed a lump in the throat moment. He has grown into a great young man - he clearly got that from his mother! “It is surreal to think that together we will head out and tackle the top quality TCR Australia field this season. I guess the saying about the first person you want to beat is your teammate now takes on a whole new and deeply personal meaning! He is the one driver I would be proud to finish in second place to.” The 2021 TCR Australia Championship will traverse the Eastern Seaboard across six championship rounds and one invitational event and kicked off with round one in Tasmania at the end of January. “It is just awesome to be a part of the Burson Auto Parts Racing Team. I am so hungry for this that it hurts and driving the car for the first time was an amazing experience,” said Ben, speaking ahead of the first event. “I make no assumptions of the size of the challenge I am facing with this, but with the support of Garry Rogers Motorsport and Burson Auto Parts, I will work harder than any driver in the field to make the most out of this fantastic opportunity. “The first goal is to make the top ten, then to make the top five and race for the podium. I am focused on doing whatever it takes to win, including beating the old man!” Burson Auto Parts General Manager, Marketing, Anthony Hughes is excited about doubling up on the track in this new and exciting 2021 TCR Australia Championship. “Along with the impossible to miss Burson Auto Parts livery on Jason’s car, logos of more company owned brands will appear on Ben’s car throughout the season, reminding our valued customers and new customers of these quality Australian automotive aftermarket brands,” Anthony said. Australia’s Burson Auto Parts is part of the country’s largest automotive aftermarket specialised company, Bapcor Limited.

To find out more about Burson Auto Parts, visit www.burson.com.au

UFI FILTERS COMES TO AUSTRALIA

The company’s products have been proven in motorsport competition around the world

Founded in 1971, UFI Filters says it is a global leader in filtration technology and thermal management. The Group, headquartered in Italy, counts 19 industrial sites around the world with over 4,000 people in 19 countries, and it is now bringing its 50-year OEM experience to the Australian Aftermarket sector with the opening of a new branch in Sydney. UFI Filters supplies a full range of air, oil, fuel, cabin, hydraulic and coolant filters as well as thermal management systems to the automotive sector, covering cars and motorcycles as well as commercial, heavy-duty and agricultural vehicles. The company is the developer and manufacturer of its own filtration media which it says allows it to create unique and groundbreaking products. UFI Filters explains it is research-driven, holding 237 patents and reinvesting more than five percent of its revenue in R&D. It has 168 specialised technicians in three Innovation and Research Centers in Italy, India and China.

Recognised in motorsport

UFI Filters says its expertise has been recognised for more than 40 years by the Formula 1 world. In fact, it says nine of the 10 F1 Teams use its products and more than 110 UFI filters are used in every race. The company supplies a total of 3,000 filters every year for this technologically demanding market, from engine oil filters to air filters and fuel filters (low and high pressure), hydraulic filters and “last chance filters” for the circuits containing cooling water and hydraulic oil. UFI says its products are in high demand also in other world-famous competitions such as Indycar, Formula 2, Formula 3, GTE and Superbike. In addition, UFI Filters says its core values, passion, innovation and excellence are found in its brand Ambassador, British champion Archie Hamilton, who drives a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. The on-road version of that same car is equipped with a UFI oil filter module on both the 2.0 and 2.5-litre versions, a filter that is also available to the company’s aftermarket customers. UFI Filters says this is further proof that the expertise built up in the racing field can be found in all of UFI’s range, both for the OEMs – 95 percent of which it says worldwide choose UFI as supplier – and for the Aftermarket. One of the latest on-road projects of the Group involves the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 that, with a total of 819 HP and 720 Nm of maximum torque, is the most powerful Lambo ever produced. UFI Filters proudly supplies this supercar with the double airbox and oil filter.

For more information, visit www.ufifilters.com

VALVOLINE BACKS MICHAEL CARUSO

Two-year deal ‘re-inked’ for GRM Alfa Romeo driver

Valvoline and Garry Rogers Motorsport have rolled over their two-year TCR Australia commitment with Michael Caruso for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Announced at the start of last year, Michael was set for a two-year stint in the emerging turbocharged touring car class, only for the COVID-19 pandemic to put a halt to the program. Driving his Valvoline Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce, the former Supercars race winner and Bathurst 1000 podium finisher qualified on the front-row at the TCR Asia Pacific Cup event at Albert Park, but never got the chance to see the green lights when the Formula 1 event was closed down at the start of the health crisis. Despite the challenges that he faced in 2020, Michael is pleased that all parties have agreed to keep the two-year program in place. “Having not done any racing last year, it’s great that both Valvoline and GRM are keen to roll the partnership on for the intended two years, so we are all pretty excited to get it going,” Michael said. “We feel that it is going to be a successful partnership. The TCR Series is a fantastic, global product, and despite the fact that we have been a full year out of the seat, there is some really strong interest out there to see the cars go back around. “This type of racing really excites Valvoline. They love all motorsport, but the closeness of the TCR racing and the variety of brands in the field is something that has them keen for more. “When I got to Albert Park, it was only my second time in the car. I was so looking forward to getting into that race, starting alongside Garth Tander. To not even get onto the track that day was a real let down. “That is all behind us now, so we have full focus on 2021. There’s no doubt that the ingredients are there to get some strong results in the Alfa Romeo.” The first event of the 2021 TCR Australia Series was held at Symmons Plains Raceway in late January, held as part of the inaugural Race Tasmania festival. Michael qualified fifth in Tasmania and finished race one in 12th and race three in ninth after failing to finish race two due to a crash. A Safety Car interrupted that race for a short period after a tangle between Michael’s Alfa and Dylan O’Keeffe’s Renault at the end of the first lap. Michael’s Alfa fired across the front of the Renault, slamming into the pit straight wall and ending the Valvoline-sponsored driver’s race. The second round of the Championship is scheduled for Phillip Island in Victoria on February 19-21.

For more from Valvoline, visit www.valvoline.com.au

DAYCO PORSCHE RETURNS TO THE TRACK

In 2021 Dayco will continue its partnership with Lago Racing

Thanks to its ongoing partnership with Lago Racing, Dayco Australia says it will once again be a major player in the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. The renowned #23 black beauty will return for the planned eight round 2021 series of the world’s fastest one-make championship with long term Dayco Ambassadors and highly experienced racers David Russell and team owner driver Roger Lago competing in both the Pro and Pro-Am categories throughout the season. Porsche Carrera Cup Australia has been a popular addition to the Dayco Australia motorsport program over recent years, with the global company using Australian race imagery locally and worldwide across its automotive aftermarket marketing and promotional campaigns. The 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Championship features a number of exciting changes for the new season following the category’s heavily pandemic disrupted 2020 season. Once again, all Carrera Cup races will be held in conjunction with major Supercar Championship events. The popular series plans to return to Western Australia under lights in September and heads across the Tasman to compete in New Zealand in November. The opening round will be held at Melbourne’s Sandown Raceway from March 18-21, replacing the postponed Australian Formula One Grand Prix event, with the super-fast series racing through South Australia, Northern Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and New Zealand from March to December, including the spectacular Surfers Paradise Street Circuit as its grand final round. According to Dayco Australia Sales and Marketing Director, David McClurg, the 2021 Dayco motorsport program is shaping up to be one of the company’s best yet. “After the pandemic disruption that totally decimated the Porsche Carrera Cup component of our motorsport marketing program last season, we are very excited about the new season ahead,” David said. “We have a great car and two very accomplished drivers, a number of great events including a night race in WA and a visit to New Zealand, where we also have many Dayco customers. “The Dayco Porsche Cup Car has become one of the most recognised cars in the field and these incredible racing cars have a truly global appeal. “This combined with our continued Supercars involvement, our TCR car sponsorship and our grass roots support of the Monash Motorsport Formula SAE team, forms an excellent motorsport marketing package for the new year ahead.”

For more from Dayco, go to www.dayco.com.au

RYCO TO FILTER TICKFORD SUPERCARS

The Australian filter supplier has become Tickford Racing’s Official Filtration Partner

Founded in Melbourne in 1936, Ryco says it is Australia’s top selling brand of automotive oil, air, and fuel filters, and was named in the Australian Financial Review’s most innovative companies list in 2019 and 2020. The partnership with Tickford Racing will see significant Ryco branding across the team’s three Ford Mustang Supercars, and all of its entries utilising Ryco filters on the racetrack.

Ryco and Tickford Racing will also pursue a number of innovative projects aimed at stepping up Ryco’s competitive edge in race cars and daily drives as well as Tickford’s performance on the track. “We at Ryco are elated to be teaming up with Tickford Racing in 2021,” Ryco Executive General Manager, Stuart Chandler, said. The partnership also ties back to a significant milestone in Ryco’s 84-year history. “Partnering with a Ford team – Tickford in particular – is great for our brand from a heritage perspective,” Stuart said. “Our Z9 oil filter was one of our first massproduced filters, and was an original part on the early Ford Falcons. Partnering with Tickford, whose lineage on the track and the road stems from the Falcon era, adds a sentimental dimension to our relationship, which was appealing to us and hopefully just as exciting for the fans and supporters of the team.” “Joining forces with Ryco is very exciting for us. To bring another industry-leading brand into our team builds a lot of momentum for us,” Tickford Racing Chief Executive Officer and Team Principal, Tim Edwards, said.

For more from Ryco, visit www.rycofilters.com.au

SHAKE-UP FOR SHELL V-POWER RACING

DJR has announced a restructure and its 2021 engineering line-up

Back Row: Nick Hughes, Perry Kapper, Ryan Story, Ron Young, Josh Silcock. Front Row: Ludo Larcoix, Richard Harris, Ben Croke, Dick Johnson, Mark Fenning

Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) recently announced a restructure of Shell V-Power Racing as well as its engineering line-up ahead of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship. In explaining all the changes that have been made, now Team Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Story, noted they were necessary to not only strengthen the business but also to create greater stability and structure within the team. “We have a very ambitious growth strategy which encapsulates not only Supercars but our organisation as a whole,” Ryan said. “We’ve given great consideration as to how we go racing, how we can operate better on the ground, and how we can ensure the people with the appropriate skill sets and experience are in the right roles. “At a later stage, we look forward to announcing our Advisory Board that will aid and assist the senior management of the race team. It will comprise a group of people who possess enormous levels of experience both in motorsport and in business. “Dick and I are very proud owners of his eponymous racing team, and in taking on the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles, it’s not dissimilar to what I’ve been doing in years past since 2013. But it does change some of the responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the race team itself. “In Ben Croke (Team Principal), we have a guy who has been involved in motor racing not just here in Australia in Supercars, but in Europe as well. He has got an immense amount of experience, and he has been with us for a long time. I think that now is the right time for him to step up. “Perry Kapper (Chief Engineer) and Josh Silcock (Team Manager) are two people who are very well known to us and who have done a tremendous job for our team over many seasons. “Ron Young (Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary) has been associated with the team a lot longer than he’s been a direct employee. He worked for Crimsafe for many years with Steve Brabeck, and he’s a real figure of strength in terms of his administrative management of the organisation. “The roles of Ludo Lacroix (Competition Director) and Nick Hughes (Technical Director) remain unchanged. Mark Fenning also remains as a key member of the trackside engineering group moving to a senior role across both cars, while also focusing on the design and development of the Gen3 Mustang alongside Perry Kapper. We have a very solid team which will continue to build the Dick Johnson Racing legacy. “In terms of our engineering lineup for next year, we look forward to having Ludo engineering Anton De Pasquale and taking on a young driver similar to when he first joined our team in 2017 alongside Scott McLaughlin. Richard Harris will step up to a race engineering role to run Will Davison’s Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang.” Motorsport Hall of Famer Dick Johnson echoed Ryan’s comments, saying the changes were about optimising the organisation. “We have to keep looking at ways of improving the entire structure of the whole business, and Ryan has put in a lot of time and effort into thinking about the best way of doing that - and this is the best way,” Dick said.

For more from Shell V-Power Racing, visit www.djrteampenske.com.au

MOBIL 1 AND WAU: A TRUE TECHNICAL PARTNERSHIP

Mobil 1’s relationship with Walkinshaw Andretti United stretches back almost 30 years, but its presence is more than just a sticker on a race car, it is a critical technical relationship which advantages both parties

Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) – a threeway partnership between Walkinshaw Racing in Australia, Andretti Autosport in the US and United Autosports in Europe – is one of Australian motorsport’s most enduring teams. Competing in the Supercars Championship, you could be forgiven for not recognising WAU, but its original name, Holden Racing Team (HRT), is one of the biggest brands in domestic sport. Even those that do not follow motorsport recognise HRT. HRT has won the Bathurst 1000 seven times and enjoyed six championship wins – plus a further two with the HSV Dealer team. Drivers like Peter Brock, Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife and current Bathurst champion Garth Tander are synonymous with HRT/WAU, and in 2020 Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood were still winning races for the outfit. Since 1994, Mobil 1 has been one of WAU’s most important sponsors. In fact, Mobil 1 is synonymous with WAU, as is the famous Mobil 1 logo on the bonnet of every one of its Holden Commodores. Like most companies that invest in motorsport, Mobil 1 uses the Supercars and WAU platforms to create brand awareness, but it is more than a simple sporting relationship, it is a true partnership. “The partnership between WAU and Mobil 1 continually evolves, what we do now with Mobil is very different, both on and off track, compared to where we started,” WAU Team Principal, Bruce Stewart, said. “We partner with Mobil to get the best performance out of our cars and to give our drivers the best opportunity to enjoy success. “We then use that success to help resonate the Mobil 1 brand with their retail distributors and for industrial uses.” ExxonMobil – the parent company behind Mobil 1 – uses WAU and its involvement in the Supercars Championship to showcase the technology of its products. “It’s about delivering results that prove the performance of the product, and motorsport will quickly call you out if your technology is inferior,” ExxonMobil General Manager Engineering Services, Paul Foster, said. Supercars is a high stress and high-performance environment from an engine oil point of view. “The analysis we do on the engine oils, and the results we collate over time, all roll up into our global R&D programs supporting further development of these products for future needs,” Paul said. “(The sport) enables the Mobil brand to have a local example of how our products perform in Australia’s premier motorsport category and how they can translate to on-the-road experiences.” It would be easy to think that the partnership is a one-way street in terms of benefit. Mobil 1 utilises WAU and the highly competitive Supercars series to test, analyse and improve its oils for superior standard road use, but WAU is getting just as much advantage from the relationship. The technical support that Mobil offers WAU is impressive. It has a dedicated team that pays particular attention to all aspects of the relationship, from engineering and technical service through to in-depth forensic analysis. WAU has access to the global Mobil Motorsport Technical Team which also supports its Formula 1, Porsche, Le Mans and NASCAR interests. This support is accessible year-round, but where the relationship really pays dividends is at the annual Formula One event in Melbourne. “We have access to a lot of the Mobil technicians who travel with Formula One,” WAU Technical Director, Carl Faux, said. “This allows us to reset every year, thanks to the regular contact that we enjoy, to discuss the product, plus changes and challenges that we may have with different parts of the car. It’s a technical partnership in every sense.” With a mobile testing facility based at the Albert

Bruce Stewart

Park track, and the key technical executives available, WAU takes advantage of the annual opportunity. “We talk about the challenges, we might have a new path component or an area of the car that might be outside the engine that needs attention, and we also focus on the lubrication opportunities,” Bruce said. For example, ahead of the 2020 season Supercars introduced a new Xtrac gearbox. It was very different from what had been used before and required a particular oil type – which was not Mobil 1. This is where the partnership with Mobil yields impressive results. At the track, WAU gave Mobil some oil samples so they could determine the materials within the oil and its composition. Questions were also be asked: Has it decomposed? Is any metal – emanating from the bearings – present? “Having that expertise available to us with a brand-new product is brilliant,” Carl said. “We gave them some of the samples of the new oil we were running, and we gave them samples of oil that we have run in the past for them to do some analysis on. “Remember, it’s not their oil at this stage. “They look at the composition, what it’s trying to do and so forth, and then off the back of this they can do their magic and provide us with a Mobil oil that meets regulation, but is better. “It’s a true technical partnership. And being an engineer, god I love it.” Away from the track, WAU can still evaluate oils and how they impact the running of the race car, they just utilise the local team. They can conduct all the same tests and analysis, but it is done at the lab, so the results take longer to get back to the team. It is easy for people outside the sponsorship bubble to think that a sticker is only about exposure. On many occasions it is, or product and technologies are given in exchange for real estate on the car, but sometimes it is so much more. Sometimes the technical advantages are more than just local, they can be global. And any engineer would welcome the opportunity to experience this because knowledge is power: knowledge is progression. “It’s exciting to work with Mobil because they’ve got that knowledge base, it’s exciting to work with them because they’ve got tools that we could only hope to have,” Carl said. “They’re the oil experts, they’re the ones that provide us with a service. From my point of view they help us do better than we could on our own.” An extensive range of Mobil 1 oils and lubricants is distributed in Australia by MotorActive.

For more information, visit www.motoractive.com.au

COOLDRIVE RACING LAUNCHES NEW SUPERCARS TEAM

The 2021 Supercars season will see a new team on the grid

Tim Slade is set to drive for the newly formed CoolDrive Auto Parts-backed Blanchard Racing Team (BRT), which will be based in a stateof-the-art facility at CoolDrive’s head office in Melbourne. The outfit will utilise a proven race-winning package in the form of a Tickford Racing-built Ford Mustang adorned with the number “3”, with Tickford also providing the car’s power plant. “I am super happy to be joining the Blanchard Racing Team. The fit is perfect for me and I’m genuinely excited and proud to not only represent BRT but also the Blanchard family and the CoolDrive business,” Tim Slade said. “Having worked in the Acacia Ridge and Eagle Farm branches this year for a few months during the COVID period, I know how much the CoolDrive racing program means to the staff. “To have the race team workshop inside of the CoolDrive headquarters in Melbourne is really cool and gives the staff something that no other sponsor of the sport currently provides. “Tim (Blanchard) has done a really great job of putting it all together and I can honestly say we have all of the right ingredients to achieve some good things. “Supercars is an extremely competitive and tough category, so we are under no illusions that it’s going to be easy, but in saying that, I’m excited to show everyone what we will be capable of. “I’m also very fortunate to have the continued support from long-time supporter James Rosenberg. James has become a great friend over the years and I look forward to having him around the team again just like the old JRR SBR days.” Tim has enjoyed a distinguished career in Supercars competition dating back to 2009, which culminated in 2019 when he paired with Supercars Championship winner Scott McLaughlin at the Bathurst 1000. To date, Tim has amassed a total of 334 Supercars race starts, two wins, 17 podium places and two pole positions, with his resume also including a pair of World Time Attack Challenge victories, and a second-place finish in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. His best overall Supercars Championship result to date is fifth. “For CoolDrive Auto Parts and the entire Blanchard family, this announcement is the result of a long-term commitment to Supercars racing, and is very exciting for all involved,” BRT Co-Principal, Tim Blanchard, said. “We joined with Brad Jones Racing in 2016 in a customer relationship, it was a good run over those years, we learned a lot, but now it is time for us to stand on our own two feet. “Our long term vision by investing in a Racing Entitlements Contract was to one day control our own destiny, with Supercars still providing the perfect platform to promote our core automotive business. “We’re investing strongly in this project with high-quality equipment, a top-line facility, and very skilled people. “We also thought it fitting to rename the outfit to Blanchard Racing Team to appropriately reflect the entire Blanchard family’s involvement in the team, and passion and commitment to the sport. Motorsport is who we are, it is in our family’s DNA. “Tim is a great asset for the team, he brings a lot of experience and speed, which is important for a single-car outfit. I have known him for a very long time, and have a lot of respect for his ability. “I can’t wait for the 2021 season to get started.” Blanchard Racing Team has also secured the services of Brendan Hogan, who has been appointed to the position of Team Manager. Brendan comes to the team from Tickford Racing, where he was most recently the race engineer for James Courtney and Will Davison. CoolDrive Auto Parts is a 100 percent Australian family-owned business, employing over 550 people at 35 branches across Australia and New Zealand. CoolDrive says it has forged a reputation as a leader in the automotive aftermarket with a diverse line up of leading global brands, as well as the Jayair, Jayrad and Jaylec, HULK 4x4, Aunger and Ignite range of products representing CoolDrive’s own brands of quality air conditioning, radiator, electrical and lighting products. The 12-round 2021 Supercars season kicks off at Mount Panorama Bathurst with a new 500km, single-driver event from February 26-28, and concludes on the streets of Surfers Paradise from December 3-5.

For more from CoolDrive, visit www.cooldrive.com.au