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HomeNewsFIRST AND LAST HRT VE COMMODORES UNITED!

FIRST AND LAST HRT VE COMMODORES UNITED!

THE first and last VE model Commodore V8 Supercars campaigned by the Holden Racing Team are both currently being worked on at Eggleston Motorsport.

WR 001 and WR 015 were built by Walkinshaw Racing almost six years apart and never shared a racetrack in period.

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The former was conceived as a prototype for the VE Commodore race car, which included initial testing at the Lang Lang Proving Ground and the Woomera air strip in a special Holden livery.

It was then raced by Mark Skaife in the first four rounds of the 2007 V8 Supercars Championship before becoming a spare and eventually being sold to Tony D’Alberto Racing.

WR 001 is undergoing a full restoration. Pic: Eggleston Motorsport

D’Alberto campaigned it in the V8 Supercars Championship from 2008 until he switched to Ford in early 2011, after which TDR ran the car for David Wall in that year’s Fujitsu Series.

The D’Albertos retained WR 001 until selling it to current owner Brad Neill last year, presented in its original Holden livery.

It is now undergoing a full restoration at Eggleston Motorsport, which will include being reverted to its 2007 Mark Skaife colours.

WR 001 on debut at the 2007 Clipsal 500. Pic: an1images.com / Andrew Hall

WR 015 did not debut until April in 2012 and was the last Project Blueprint Commodore V8 Supercar completed by any team.

It was raced by James Courtney as the #22 HRT entry for the balance of that season, which included being co-driven by Cameron McConville at Sandown and Bathurst, and Brit Darren Turner on the Gold Coast.

The car was purchased by a private collector in 2013 and then on-sold the following year to current owner Joseph Hancock, who has run it at various track days including Challenge Bathurst.

WR 015 on debut at Hamilton in 2012. Pic: an1images.com / Dirk Klynsmith

The Eggleston team is giving the car a mechanical service ahead of its next scheduled track outing.

Holden’s full history in Australian motorsport is celebrated in our book ‘Racing the Lion’, now on sale at a reduced price in the V8 Sleuth Bookshop.

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