20.1 C
Mount Panorama
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsWALKINSHAW HRT COMMODORE MAKES RETURN

WALKINSHAW HRT COMMODORE MAKES RETURN

ONE of the two last Walkinshaw Racing cars to carry official Holden Racing Team backing in 2016 will make a return to Supercar racing this weekend in Sydney after a long time away from active competition.

The car, a VF Commodore debuted by James Courtney in the 2016 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide and raced by ‘JC’ throughout that season including the final round at Sydney Olympic Park (where Walkinshaws ran as the HRT for the last time), hasn’t raced since the final round of the 2017 championship in Newcastle.

Last year’s Mike Kable Young Gun Award winner Tyler Everingham gets behind the wheel of the chassis – WR 022 – this weekend and will drive it for long-time Super3 team Anderson Motorsport, who make the step up to Super2 as well as continue running their existing ex-FPR Super3 Falcon for young gun Declan Fraser.

Tyler Everingham with the car he’ll drive this weekend in Sydney. Photo: Supplied.

This weekend in Sydney is Everingham’s first appearance in this year’s Dunlop Super2 Series, having missed round one in Adelaide in the wake of a Bathurst 12 Hour qualifying crash in a MARC Cars entry that left him with a budget shortfall.

The young gun from Dubbo won the Super3 Series back in 2018 driving an ex-FPR Falcon for Matthew White’s MW Motorsport and graduated into the Super2 Series with MW Motorsport last year in a Nissan Altima.

The car he’s driving in Sydney this weekend was driven by Courtney throughout the 2016 season under the HRT banner with Jack Perkins co-driving at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.

It won the second race of the 2016 championship in Adelaide, where Courtney held off Jamie Whincup in a titanic tussle in the closing laps.

If you’re a Holden and/or HRT fan, then you definitely should not miss out on a copy of our new ‘Racing The Lion’ Holden illustrated motorsport history book here that is available for order here and arriving in August – it’s a whopping huge 400 page book featuring an illustrated history of Holden in motorsport in Australia.

James Courtney at the 2017 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, the first event for Walkinshaw Racing since it lost the factory Holden Racing Team support. Photo: an1images.com / Dirk Klynsmith.

For 2017 it ran (again with Courtney driving) under the Mobil 1 HSV Racing banner, and finished on the podium in the Saturday race in Adelaide, though was damaged in the nasty, multi-car accident in the Saturday race at Symmons Plains.

It was sidelined for some time while being repaired and was pressed back into service for the Sandown 500. The team’s cars ran in a retro livery that weekend celebrating the 2007 championship won by Garth Tander a decade earlier.

Courtney and Perkins finished 10th in the 2017 Sandown 500 carrying a Mobil 1/Boost Mobile livery paying tribute to Garth Tander’s 2007 championship win. Photo: an1images.com / Dirk Klynsmith.

Courtney and Perkins again teamed up for the three endurance races before Courtney rounded out the season in the chassis in the championship’s inaugural visit to Newcastle.

It has since been retained by Walkinshaw Andretti United was not converted to ZB specification.

This weekend will be its first appearance in the Dunlop Super2 Series, which will be broadcast live on FOX Sports. There has been a TV commentary change for this round of the series.

Want to read more?

Subscribe to V8 Sleuth to receive regular updates of news and products delivered straight to you.



Latest News