AT least seven teams will complete their maiden Gen3 shakedowns this week as the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship field roars to life.
Matt Stone Racing will tomorrow become the first Chevrolet team to put its new challenger to the test, with drivers Cameron Hill and Jack Le Brocq to share the driving duties of its first Camaro’s debut.
Dick Johnson Racing will join MSR at Queensland Raceway, running its #17 Shell V-Power Racing Mustang one day after unveiling its livery.
MSR and DJR will return to QR on Thursday to shakedown their second respective cars.
The Blanchard Racing Team is the third of the teams confirmed to be in action on Tuesday, although its outing at Winton will be termed an official test having completed a historic shakedown of its CoolDrive Mustang last week.
Tickford Racing and Grove Racing are targeting Wednesday (February 8) for the first of their shakedowns.
Tickford will roll out the #6 Mustang of Cam Waters at Winton; Grove will likewise field one car for the time being, with a second shakedown still to come.
BJR had also been aiming for this Wednesday before deciding to push back their maiden run until next week.
“It enables us to get more of the other cars done,” said Brad Jones of the revised plan in the team’s latest update video, below.
“If we just get one car done and shake it down then everyone is away from the shop.”
Thursday will see Triple Eight Race Engineering and PremiAir Racing hit the track, tomorrow having proven too tight a turnaround to the Bathurst 12 Hour in which both teams competed.
Triple Eight is planning to run both of its Red Bull Ampol Camaros at QR that day, while it’s not yet clear whether PremiAir’s shakedown will be for one or two cars.
Of the remaining squads, Team 18 has already confirmed it will conduct shakedowns on back-to-back days on February 14-15 (Car #18 on the 14th and Car #20 on the 15th). They will then return to Winton on March 1 for further testing.
Walkinshaw Andretti United is eyeing two of the three days in the window from February 13-15, a timeframe which also appears to be on the cards for Erebus Motorsport.
Each of the 25 full-time cars are entitled to a pre-season shakedown and test in addition to the Sydney Motorsport Park all-in on February 22.
Newcastle will host Round 1 across March 10-12.
