THE 2022 Repco Supercars Championship entry list has taken shape amid the annual ‘silly season’ of driver and team movements.
Every seat on the grid has now been filled with new squad PremiAir Racing locking in the last two pieces of the 25-driver puzzle.
SCHEDULE: The full calendar for the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship
GALLERY: Your guide to all the 2022 Supercars liveries
SENSATIONAL! An Illustrated History of the Adelaide 500, available now
For the series itself there will be less initial change than originally thought following a decision to delay the introduction of the Gen3 regulations until the start of the 2023 season.
That means the Holden Commodore ZB and Ford Mustang will again be the weapons of choice for one final season.
As for who is driving where and major team personnel changes, here is your full rundown.
Triple Eight Race Engineering
The biggest change among the driver roster will be the absence of seven-time champion Jamie Whincup, who will step down from full-time driving to focus on a new role as Triple Eight team principal.
Whincup’s replacement in the two-car squad alongside Shane van Gisbergen is teen sensation Broc Feeney, who is set to make the leap into the main game after two seasons of Dunlop Super2 Series competition.
However, just as significant as the change in the cockpit and in the team’s management structure are a couple of changes in the team’s engineering group.
Triple Eight veteran David Cauchi, who engineered Shane van Gisbergen in 2021, will depart the team to join the rechristened Grove Racing as its new team principal for 2022, while Wes McDougall will also depart Triple Eight at the end of 2021 for health reasons.
Dick Johnson Racing
DJR promises an unchanged two-car line-up with young gun Anton De Pasquale and veteran Will Davison both having joined in 2021 on multi-year deals.
It’s a welcome bit of continuity for the team after a double-change at the end of 2020, which coincided with the withdrawal of Team Penske.
Tickford Racing
Tickford Racing announced in June that it will once again expand from three to four full-time cars in 2022, with 2020 Super2 Series winner Thomas Randle making the step-up to the main game.
Kostecki’s arrival means Jack Le Brocq is on the move for 2022.
Finally, Cam Waters signed a brand new multi-year deal that will keep him at Tickford Racing until at least the end of the 2023 season, while sponsor Monster Energy also committed to remain the #6 entry’s primary backer.
Erebus Motorsport
Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki joined Erebus in 2021 on multi-year deals and are therefore locked in to stay on for a second season.
Both have performed strongly during their rookie campaign in the main game following experience in Super2.
Team 18
Current drivers Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye are both secured for 2022.
Winterbottom signed a fresh two-year deal in late 2020 while Pye extended for a further two years last September.
However, Pye will have new colours in 2022 and a new race engineer, with Richard Hollway set to run the #20 entry after the departure of Phil Keed to Brad Jones Racing.
Walkinshaw Andretti United
Chaz Mostert will remain at WAU after announcing in June a multi-year contract extension to his initial two-year contract, but he will have a new teammate with current #2 Bryce Fullwood moving to Brad Jones Racing.
Nick Percat will rejoin the team on a multi-year deal, marking a reunion with the squad that gave him his full-time ‘main game’ debut in 2014, and with whom he won his very first Supercars Championship race at the 2011 Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander.
Percat’s engineer will also be a fresh face in the team with WAU recruiting Dr Geoffrey Slater from the former Team Sydney to run the #2 car.
Brad Jones Racing
Star driver Percat provided the shock of the silly season with a bombshell announcement on September 13 that he’ll leave BJR at year’s end, having earlier confirmed he was extending his five-year tenure.
BJR almost immediately followed that revelation with news that Andre Heimgartner, a race-winner with Kelly Grove Racing in 2021, will join its four-car squad.
Elsewhere, Jack Smith will stay on at BJR for a third year while Macauley Jones will also continue with the team for a fourth full-time season.
Grove Racing
What is now Kelly Grove Racing will transition to Grove Racing for 2022 as the Grove Group completes a 100 percent buyout of the team from the Kelly family.
David Reynolds will continue after joining on a multi-year deal at the start of 2021 and, with teammate Heimgartner moving to BJR, will have a new teammate for the new year.
The squad originally signalled intentions to elevate Porsche young gun Matthew Payne, but his graduation was dependent on a Superlicence dispensation and he will now spend the 2022 season driving for Grove Racing in the Dunlop Super2 Series.
Lee Holdsworth will instead fill the vacancy aboard the team’s other Ford Mustang, the 2021 Bathurst 1000 co-winner gaining a release from his multi-year co-driver deal with Walkinshaw Andretti United to return to full-time Supercars competition.
The entry Holdsworth will pilot will also have a new number – #10 in place of #7 – and a new race engineer, recruiting former BMW Formula E engineer William Davidson.
The team has also lured another very high-profile recruit off the track in the form of long-time Triple Eight engineer David Cauchi, who will serve as the squad’s team principal.
Cauchi will replace Todd Kelly, who will relinquish the role as part of the team’s sale to the Grove Group.
Blanchard Racing Team
Tim Slade is set to continue at what was a start-up squad for 2021, having rejoined the main game on a multi-year deal following a single season on the sidelines.
The big chance for BRT though will be its pit position; Tickford’s expansion to four cars meaning the single-car outfit will have to fend for itself at pit entry.
PremiAir Racing
The last big move of the 2022 silly season unfolded in early January with confirmation that Team Sydney had been sold.
Jonathon and Kobe Webb sold the assets and entries of their Bathurst 1000-winning team to PremiAir Hire owner Peter Xiberras, ending an 11-year run for the team originally known as TEKNO Autosports.
“Kobe and I are grateful that Peter Xiberras and PremiAir Hire will continue to build Team SYDNEY within the Supercars Championship,” Jonathon Webb said in a brief statement.
“We are thankful for the support and friendships we have welcomed over the past 12 years of racing – significantly Tony Quinn, Triple 8, KRE, ARDC, Steve Hallam, Dr. Geoffrey Slater, Mick Shortus (our first employee who remained with us for our entire Supercars journey), and many more. Thank you to our Drivers, crew, and families.”
“We look forward to seeing what the 2022 season brings for all involved- all the best.”
Under Xiberras, the new team will operate out of a new base in the Gold Coast suburb of Arundel that will be up and running early in the 2022 season.
The team will continue to run its Triple Eight-sourced Holden Commodore ZB chassis this year ahead of the category’s switch to Gen3 hardware for 2023.
Garry Jacobson will join PremiAir Racing after driving for Team SYDNEY last year, but he will be joined by Chris Pither, who returns to the full-time grid for the first time since 2020 when he drove for Team SYDNEY.
The announcements confirmed that Fabian Coulthard will not be on the grid in 2022 – he has instead landed a co-driver role at reigning Repco Bathurst 1000 victors Walkinshaw Andretti United.
Another person that will not move from Team SYDNEY to PremiAir Racing is the former squad’s technical chief Dr Geoffrey Slater, who shifts to Walkinshaw Andretti United to engineer Nick Percat.
Matt Stone Racing
The Queensland-based Holden squad will have a completely new driver lineup for the 2022 season with both of its current pilots moving on.
Zane Goddard confirmed on October 15 that he will depart the team at the end of 2021 after failing to come to terms with MSR on a new deal.
Earlier that week, Jake Kostecki announced his move to Tickford Racing; the man he replaces at the Ford team.
In their places come Todd Hazelwood, who will reunite with the team with whom he won the 2017 Super2 Series and graduated to the ‘main game’ with in 2018-19, and Jack Le Brocq, who effectively swaps with the Tickford-bound Kostecki.
Matt Stone has been vocal about wanting to expand to three entries, but was unsuccessful in his bid for to acquire a third REC during Supercars’ tender process in June.
ENTRY LIST: 2022 Repco Supercars Championship
| Team | Car # | Driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | 88 | Broc Feeney | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Dick Johnson Racing | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT |
| Dick Johnson Racing | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | 6 | Cam Waters | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | 5 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | 55 | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | 56 | Jake Kostecki | Ford Mustang GT |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | 2 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Erebus Motorsport | 9 | Will Brown | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Erebus Motorsport | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Brad Jones Racing | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Brad Jones Racing | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Brad Jones Racing | 96 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Brad Jones Racing | 4 | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Team 18 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Team 18 | 20 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Grove Racing | 10 | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Mustang GT |
| Grove Racing | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT |
| Matt Stone Racing | 35 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Matt Stone Racing | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB |
| PremiAir Racing | 22 | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore ZB |
| PremiAir Racing | 76 | Garry Jacobson | Holden Commodore ZB |
| Blanchard Racing Team | 3 | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT |
* Teams are listed in pit lane order.
