2020 Supercars Championship and Bathurst 1000 runner-up Cameron Waters will get his hands on his new 2021 title-challenger Mustang next week.
The Monster Energy/Tickford ace will shake down a brand-new chassis on Monday at Winton, his first time in a Supercar since finishing a close second to Shane van Gisbergen at Mount Panorama in mid-October.
Supercars teams running new cars are permitted shakedown tests by the rules, though they are limited to 60-kilometres of running, which equates to 20 laps of Winton.
The new #6 Monster machine is the first chassis built by Tickford Racing to debut as a Mustang from the start of its life given the rest of its fleet of Mustangs run during the last two years have all been converted Falcons.
Water’s 2020 chassis will be passed on to Boost Mobile driver James Courtney for next season, while Jack Le Brocq is set to likely debut a new chassis in 2021.
Tickford boss Tim Edwards told v8sleuth.com.au that Waters’ new car was in fact originally scheduled to become his race car mid-season before the world changed with COVID-19.
“We had intended to shake it down and scheduled to debut it around May which would have likely meant it would have debuted at Winton or thereabouts on the original calendar,” he said.
“It was built for the beginning of the year and we’d been tinkering on it in the background but then COVID hit and it just sat there gathering dust while we exited the state.
“We’ve come back from Bathurst, put the finishing touches on it and will run it next week.
“The other new car is being painted at the moment, it’s finished and will come into service for next season and more than likely become Jack’s car.”
With Phil Munday’s chassis – raced initially by Will Davison and later by Courtney during 2020 – heading off to the Blanchard/CoolDrive team, that leaves Tickford Racing with five Mustangs (four race cars and a spare) as well as its Super2 Falcon FG X raced last season by Broc Feeney.
Le Brocq’s 2020 chassis in Supercheap Auto colours is destined to become the team’s spare car in 2021. Its history dates back to being built new in 2016 as a Falcon FG X with Chaz Mostert at the helm.
Later converted to a Mustang for Mostert to drive in 2019, it was taken to victory by Le Brocq at Sydney Motorsport Park this year having been resurrected after the now-Walkinshaw Andretti United pilot crashed it on the Gold Coast last October.
Initially thought to be a write-off, it was repaired by Tickford Racing in the off-season and ran in Supercheap Auto colours again this year.
Watch Cameron Waters’ 2020 Bathurst pole position lap in the Monster Energy Tickford Racing Mustang here …
