THE Supercars silly season continues to get wilder with two veteran drivers increasingly becoming factors.
The rumour mill has this week centred around Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds.
It appears former DJR Team Penske stalwart Coulthard has shot into contention to be Chaz Mostert’s teammate at Walkinshaw Andretti United next season, having last driven full-time in 2021.
Coulthard joined Kiwi young gun Ryan Wood at a WAU evaluation day last week at Winton Motor Raceway and is said to have impressed.
Coulthard is co-driving the #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang this year, which is spearheaded by Nick Percat.
Percat, the 2011 Bathurst 1000 winner, has been plagued by reliability woes all season.
There is no indication WAU has reached a final decision yet on the 2024 driver of its #2 entry.
Cam Waters had previously been linked to a WAU move, but the Monster Energy star is now widely believed to be sticking with Tickford Racing.
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Wood had also been mentioned as a possibility to lob at Team 18, but that door might be closing too with growing murmurs that Charlie Schwerkolt’s squad may swoop on Reynolds.
With Matt Payne under contract, Grove Racing is assessing its 2024 line-up but has appeared generally happy to retain Reynolds.
It’s understood a longer-term deal could be a potential attraction to Team 18 for the 38-year-old.
Mark Winterbottom is locked in at Team 18 next season, so it’s Scott Pye’s #20 seat that is in question.
All this comes against a backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the identity of Broc Feeney’s teammate at Triple Eight next season, given the expectation that Shane van Gisbergen will not return in 2024.
Another important factor is how some teams seem destined to wait until 2025 to make a major splash in the driver market.
Besides Feeney, Payne and Winterbottom, Will Brown, Brodie Kostecki, Will Davison, Anton De Pasquale, Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner are among those already signed for next year.
It’s understood some of those drivers have already fielded significant interest for 2025, which lines up with the potential for some stopgap options in the interim.
That could even include Triple Eight, with Jamie Whincup admitting a 12-month comeback is not off the table.
