TOM Walkinshaw Racing’s legacy is to be carried forward with the launch of TWR in England.
Established by Tom’s son Fergus (from his first marriage, to Elizabeth) in conjunction with business partner John Kane, TWR is a separate entity to Tom Walkinshaw Racing but “aims to stretch the famous name into the modern automotive world”.
The original TWR was founded in 1975 and enjoyed a particularly successful relationship with Jaguar, conquering the European Touring Car Championship, Bathurst 1000 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
While Ryan Walkinshaw has kept flying the flag in Supercars via Walkinshaw Andretti United (formerly the Holden Racing Team), Fergus will do his part on the other side of the world from his Newbury, Berkshire headquarters.
“It gives me a great amount of pride that the TWR name will live on for a new generation,” he said.
“High-performance engineering runs in the blood of the Walkinshaw family, and ever since the original TWR closed its doors I have longed to find a way to continue the family legacy.
“Through this new iteration of TWR we can not only celebrate the history and heritage of the original TWR, but also push the boundaries of our projects further than ever before.
“This new generation of TWR is first and foremost an engineering company that will make cars, rather than a car maker doing engineering. And that’s an important distinction.
“We will make use of cutting-edge technology, combining new expertise with traditional craft to build world-class products that make a statement of what this new TWR is all about.
“We aim to build some truly impressive and innovative automobiles, unconstrained by the rulebooks and styling demands of OEMs.
“We have scoured the performance and motorsport engineering worlds to assemble an incredibly talented technical team, including some members who were part of the original TWR, which just adds to our depth of knowledge and expertise.
“It’s from this base that TWR can push forward for a bright new future.”
TWR is due to announce its first project shortly.
