TEAM 18 has confirmed outgoing Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess will lead its squad next season.
Burgess has spent the past five years as Supercars’ motorsport boss but will now return to ‘team land’, with February 1, 2024 listed as his start date.
The move has already caused some friction in the paddock given his current access to intellectual property, leading to Burgess skipping this weekend’s VAILO Adelaide 500 and now being unlikely to attend the category’s off-season wind tunnel testing.
MORE: Edwards to replace Burgess as Supercars motorsport boss
For Team 18, the appointment of Burgess as team principal is quite the coup.
He brings vast experience from McLaren Formula 1 as well as managerial stints at Dick Johnson Racing, Triple Eight, Walkinshaw/HRT and Tekno Autosports, and effectively slots in for departed team manager Bruin Beasley.
It was at DJR that Burgess worked with Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt, netting the 2010 championship.
“It’s exciting to get the band back together with Charlie,” said Burgess.
“We’ve achieved a lot together in the past and we both know we would like to achieve those heights again.
“I’m not underestimating the size of the task, the competition is incredibly fierce and it’s one of the most competitive championships in the world.
“Team 18 overall is in a great shape, it showed that this year in Darwin (where Mark Winterbottom took a race win).
“I’m looking forward to getting on deck, continuing their great culture and working cohesively with everyone to focus on aiming for podiums and consistent performances every weekend and ultimately get ourselves in a position where we can fight for championships, that’s the goal.”
Schwerkolt said: “It’s incredibly exciting to welcome Adrian Burgess as team principal commencing early next year.
“I’m really pleased to reunite with Adrian, our history together goes back as far as 2006 a highlight being the championship success we celebrated together in 2010.
“This appointment is a great coup for the team and Adrian will be a valuable leader with the skills and experience to bring the results we are all striving for.
“There is a massive amount to achieve at Team 18 moving forwards, and I believe Adrian will be able to take the team to a new level and best position us for greater success in the years to come.”
The other key addition to Team 18 next year will be David Reynolds, who’ll replace Scott Pye in the driver line-up.
V8 Sleuth’s coverage of the VAILO Adelaide 500 is proudly presented by Bad Boy Mowers – explore the world of Bad Boy Mowers with the new Spring/Summer catalogue of high-performance mowers here.
