DUNLOP Super2 Series stalwart Matt Chahda is set to finally make his Supercars Championship debut in this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
The 28-year-old from Albury has been a mainstay of the V8 Touring Car and Super2 paddocks in recent years and is set to be lead driver of a Matt Chahda Motorsport-run wildcard at this October’s big race.
V8 Sleuth understands the team intends to lease a ZB Commodore from Walkinshaw Andretti United for the Bathurst project, run as a privateer effort crewed by Chahda’s team with some engineering support from WAU.
“It’s no secret we’ve been keen on doing something with a wildcard for Bathurst and I’ve had various discussions this year with various teams in the championship about doing something,” Amin Chahda told V8 Sleuth today.
“I’d love for Matt to get an opportunity to line up on the grid of a main championship race and I couldn’t think of anywhere better to do it than Bathurst with a family team entered car.
“But I’d rather wait until everything is signed, sealed and approved before I made any further comment on our plans.”
Just who would fill the co-driver seat alongside Chahda at Bathurst remains to be seen.
Chahda is the most experienced active driver in the Dunlop Super2 Series with 45 series round and 99 series race starts to his name since he debuted in 2015.
Only five drivers have started more Super2 rounds than Chahda in the 23-year history of the development category.
He drove Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s #3 Commodore during the Friday co-driver session at Queensland Raceway in 2017, the same year he had been refused an Superlicence to drive the entry for the team in the ‘main game’ on a full-time basis.
Chahda finished a career-best fourth in last year’s Dunlop Super2 Series and this year sits 12th after two rounds.
An approved wildcard for the team would see the Repco Bathurst 1000 field grow to 29 cars by virtue of four wildcards in addition to the 25 regular championship cars.
Triple Eight confirmed on the weekend it will run a Supercheap Auto Commodore for Craig Lowndes and Declan Fraser, Boost Mobile will back an Erebus-run Commodore for Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway and Bathurst racer Michael Anderson will run a Mustang secured from DJR.
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The Chahda wildcard would utilise the spare WAU ZB Commodore, the same car campaigned this year by Jayden Ojeda in his wildcard appearances, most recently at Winton and again in the next round at Hidden Valley.
The car is the team’s spare chassis and was driven by Kurt Kostecki last year in his wildcard appearances at The Bend and Hidden Valley and was steered by Neil Crompton during a ride day after the Sandown round earlier in the year.
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2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe drove the car with NAPA Auto Parts backing in the 2019 Bathurst 1000.
