2025 SUPERCARS & Supports: **T8 DITCH GM FOR FORD FROM 2026** Confirmed

WTCC, BTCC, DTM and Aussie V8s
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

2025 SUPERCARS & Supports: **T8 DITCH GM FOR FORD FROM 2026** Confirmed

#1

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

2024 V8SC is done and dusted so time to open a 2025 thread for all your SC and support news and comments.

A few changes in team lineups, I guess the biggest change being Brodie K moving across to DJR.... ironically driving a DJR car that will be based on a Gen 3 chassis to be built by his ex employer Erebus, through their South Australian chassis guru James White.Mount Gambier-based White is regarded highly, having built Bathurst-winning and championship-winning cars for Erebus since 2017.

Anyway I will just start the thread for 2025 off with a lineup of teams and drivers plus the 2025 Calendar for info.

There is a new format of the way it will run. We will have a NASCAR style format which I had conveniently forgotten about. It will change the way the title is decided and is to me the biggest crock of shite I have witnessed in the 40+ years I have lived in Aus and followed the ATCC>

I did do a big run down of it but it got lost somewhere. It explains the format. I will see if I can find it. Check back later. :blush: :rolleyes:

2025 Driver Line up

Six teams will be unchange for 2025....
Triple Eight, Tickford Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Matt Stone Racing, Brad Jones Racing and Blanchard Racing Team to field unchanged line-ups.

DJR,, Erebus ,, Team 18 and PremiAir Nulon Racing will all have one change each
As mentioned Brodie Kostecki makes a switch to Dick Johnson Racing from Erebus Motorsport. Anton De Pasquale will replace Mark Winterbottom at Team 18, reuniting with former teammate David Reynolds. James Golding will have a new teammate in Richie Stanaway at PremiAir Nulon Racing. Stanaway joins the team after

There will also be at least two new names on the grid,
Super2 champion Kai Allen signing with Grove Racing o and Eggleston Motorsport teammate Cooper Murray replacing Kostecki at Erebus.

There are a few enduro line ups confirmed, I guess the main news there is Todd Hazelwood will be back with Brodie maintaining their 2024 Bathurst winning partnerhip albeit, now both with DJR. Winterbottom will also rejoin Tickford for the enduros, tipped to partner Cam Waters.

Anyway the one driver 'Sprint' race lineups
Image


Moving on to the 2025 Full Calendar

The 2025 calendar will run from February 21 to November 30, beginning in Sydney with a twilight racie at Sydney Motorsport Park.and ending on the streets of Adelaide

13 rounds confirmed for 2025.....

* Q.I.R. returns for the first time since 2019.
* We will have the first ever endurance event at The Bend.... No Sandown enduro for 2025 but Sandown remains on the Calendar as a sprint round.
* 2025 will likely see the last visit to Wanneroo with a Perth Street Circuit tipped for 2026. :rolleyes:
* The AGP,, Taupo in NZ, Symmonds, Darwin, Townsville, and obviously Bathurst on the 2nd weekend of October fill the card.

Image
Last edited by Everso Biggyballies 1 week ago, edited 1 time in total.

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#2

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Supercars shakes up 2025: New formats, Finals Series introduced

I never found the thing I did earlieron the new NASCAR style format playoff crap. I think I must have accidently closed the tab. Anyway here it is.... the biggest pile of crap I can recall in over 40 years living in Aus following the ATCC.

I hope I am wrong but I just think it sucks. They do promise less practice and more laps actually racing which I guess is good.

Supercars will refine its racing formats in 2025 and for the first time introduce a Finals Series to determine the Supercars Champion.

The season begins with a Sprint Cup, moves into the Enduro Cup, and concludes with a three-event Finals Series, where only the top contenders will fight for the title.

SPRINT CUP
Rounds 1-8, 25 races


The first phase of the season features eight rounds and 25 races,
At the end of these eight rounds, the Sprint Cup will be awarded to the top-performing driver, who will gain automatic entry into the Finals Series.

Image

Then we move onto the Enduro Cup....

ENDURO CUP
Rounds 9-10, The Bend 500 and Repco Bathurst 1000


Image

After Bathurst, the Enduro Cup champion will be crowned and as with the Sprint Cup champion, the winner gains automatic entry to the finals.

The Top 10 drivers in Championship Standings after this phase will advance to the newly introduced Finals series.


THE FINALS
Rounds 11-13, 7 races


This is. where the bullshit and confusion really starts. Im just going to copy and paste what is written on Supercars. I dont yet fully understand the resetting of points after each of the finals. TBH I havent really tried to understand it. I have a feeling I will just watch the racing and not really care a shit about who is winning. If the racing is good it wont matter to me who actually wins.

Image
The Finals will determine the 2025 Repco Supercars Champion and feature a new elimination-style format.
Supercars wrote:The highest point-scorers from the first 27 races, along with the Sprint Cup and Enduro Cup winners, will automatically qualify.

Round 11: Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500

The Finals kick off with Round 11 at the Gold Coast, where the Championship points for all 10 finalists will reset to 3000, and additional bonus points will be awarded based on performance in the regular season.

Any driver from the 10 finalists who wins a race at the Gold Coast event, will be guaranteed a place at the Sandown event.

After the Gold Coast event, the bottom three drivers will be eliminated from title contention, leaving seven drivers to advance.

Round 12: Penrite Oil Sandown 500

In Round 12 at Sandown, the remaining seven drivers' points will reset to 4000.

Any driver from the seven remaining finalists who wins a race at the Sandown event, will be guaranteed a place at the Adelaide Grand Final event.

Bonus points will be applied following the Event, and once again, the bottom three drivers will be eliminated, leaving the top four to battle it out in the final round.

Round 13: VAILO Adelaide Grand Final

The season will culminate in the Grand Final at Adelaide, with the top four finalists’ points reset to 5000.

The champion will be determined across three races – one 100km on Friday, one 250km on Saturday and the final 250km race of the year on Sunday afternoon, with bonus points applied based on previous results.

The highest point scorer at the end of the weekend will be crowned the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship winner.

Throughout the Finals, points will reset between each round, ensuring that every race is critical for the title contenders.

The new format also guarantees that all non-finalists will continue racing throughout the Finals, competing for individual victories while the top drivers battle for the Repco Supercars Championship.

So it promises this:

2025 Championship will feature 13 rounds and 34 races

10 more races than in 2024,.... an additional 1200km of racing compared to 2024

34 races totalling 6695km of competition

Three different qualifying formats for 2025 :nah:

Top Ten Shootouts will feature at every round, except Melbourne

Only two 30-minute practice sessions at all events outside Enduro Cup, except Sydney



* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
Vassago
Supreme Member
Supreme Member
Posts: 3832
Joined: 21 years ago
Favourite Motorsport: Formula 1, IndyCar
Favourite Driver: Senna, Clark, Montoya
Favourite Circuit: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Location: Poland

#3

Post by Vassago »

The playoff system sucks but I guess Supercars realized they lost all the glamour drivers on top of the new Gen racing being mediocre. Cars look good but the racing is suspect overall. Mostert might be popular but he's more of a local driver, I mean doing Fanatec GT is fine but a far cry from the previous days. I mean even Peter Brock did World Sportscar back in the day. Brown & Feeney just don't have that much appeal IMO alas I wonder how many people are really tired of the T8 dominance. But hey, maybe this system helps Mostert to finally win the Supercars title :whistling:
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again?
01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...
User avatar
MonteCristo
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11673
Joined: 9 years ago
Favourite Motorsport: Openwheel
Favourite Racing Car: Tyrrell P34/Protos
Favourite Driver: JV
Favourite Circuit: Road America
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#4

Post by MonteCristo »

https://speedcafe.com/supercars-news-ip ... rrera-cup/
The Australian Superbike Championship will join the Supercars support card at next year’s Ipswich Super440 on August 8-10.
Most excellent.

Bikes are incredible to see in person.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.

2012 GTP Non-Championship Champion | 2012 Guess The Kai-Star Half Marathon Time Champion | 2018 GTP Champion | 2019 GTP Champion | 2024 GTP Accuracy Champion
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#5

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Interesting article on the Supercars website regarding current full time drivers winless streaks.

Its full of waffle but I have picked the bones out of it to leave the facts.

Courtney heads the way with 260 races since he last won a race...... winless since 2016 Adelaide 500,

Five drivers will commence the 2025 Championship with winless streaks of 100 or more races.
There are ten drivers yet to win a Supercars race, 5 of them what we would call fresh blood...... but the most races of those 'other 5' yet to win is Macca Jones, 198 races without a win. :omg: Bryce Fullwood (153) is still looking for his first win , as is PremiAir's James Golding (144) and Tickford's Thomas Randle (103).

The 24-driver grid will feature 14 race winners, led by Chaz Mostert (24 wins), Will Davison (22), Cam Waters and James Courtney (both 15).
Mostert, Waters and Davison have both won multiple races in the last three seasons,

In 2024 Waters, Mostert, Percat, Heimgartner, Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Matt Payne and Brodie Kostecki all won races..... Feeney and Brown on the shortest streaks of all after winning in Adelaide...

Nick Percat (118 races) and Andre Heimgartner (89) both snapped big winless streaks in 2024, Percat winning in Albert Park, before Heimgartner won the inaugural race in Taupō.

Davison's last win came at Pukekohe in 2022, 59 races ago, while Jack Le Brocq (35), Anton De Pasquale (34), David Reynolds (26) and Richie Stanaway (22) are all winless since 2023.


Who holds the outright all time winless streak record?

Paul Morris (13 years) and Colin Bond (11 years) are the two drivers with the longest waits between wins...... Morris's 2014 Bathurst win came 13 years after his sprint breakthrough at Calder Park, whilst Bond won at Lakeside in 1990, over a decade after his previous win at Adelaide International in 1978.

A summary list..... Who has won how many races and when they last won.... plus those yet to win and their total races started.

Image

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
MonteCristo
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11673
Joined: 9 years ago
Favourite Motorsport: Openwheel
Favourite Racing Car: Tyrrell P34/Protos
Favourite Driver: JV
Favourite Circuit: Road America
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#6

Post by MonteCristo »

A bit of groundskeeping going on at the paperclip ahead of its Supercars return this year.

https://www.supercars.com/news/queensla ... t-upgrades
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.

2012 GTP Non-Championship Champion | 2012 Guess The Kai-Star Half Marathon Time Champion | 2018 GTP Champion | 2019 GTP Champion | 2024 GTP Accuracy Champion
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#7

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Special meaning behind Stanaway’s new number

PremiAir Racing has revealed its newest recruit Richie Stanaway will carry #62 in the 2025 Supercars season.
They say its a special reason to change his number.... well its a predictable one. Its not so much making a clean start and hoping that a new number will change his fortunes after a very underwhelming 2024, but its a popular reason with others as well, and one you cant knock.

The number #62 is one that Richie used in his formative career, taking after his father who ran the number with great success in speedway racing.

Stanaway comes to PremiAir Racing off the back of one year at Grove Racing. He replaces Tim Slade, who is expected to land at Matt Stone Racing as a co-driver alongside Nick Percat.

Team mate James Golding will continue to use #31 so there is a little symmetry there.

The number #62 does have its own history in in Supercars / ATCC, having been raced with success by Jim Richards during his 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship title-winning run. The late Wayne Russell also used the number.
“I started out racing with the #62, following in the footsteps of my dad, who is a leading super stock competitor at home in New Zealand, so to have the chance now to race with it professionally for the first time does mean a lot to me. “I would like to thank Peter Xiberras for encouraging me to select a race number that meant something personally to me

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#8

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Supercars introduces new livery rule

A new Supercars livery rule has come to light ahead of the first team launch of the 2025 season later today. I thought it was going to besome controversial wank but it seems it is just about differentiation on teams where both cars run identical liveries. A handful of teams at most..... Last year Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing, Grove Racing and PremiAir Racing each ran two cars in the same colours, while Erebus Motorsport also did so at the Adelaide season finale.

Teams using the same livery design on multiple cars “must ensure there is an obvious differentiation to distinguish different cars.”

The rulebook gives the example of different coloured side mirrors. Various windscreen stripes and graphics have also been used by teams in the past to achieve this for their own identification purposes.

Under category rules, each team must submit their design to Supercars for approval prior to February 7, with any significant in-season changes also needing sign-off before use.

The Darwin round at Hidden Valley will once again be themed as Indigenous Round, with an Indigenous-themed livery compulsory.Nothing to read here, move on please.

2025 Team Livery Launches

Talking of liveries, livery launch season kicks off today (Saturday Jan 25th)with Matt Stone Racing unveiling its #4 Cameron Hill Chevrolet Camaro at the Canberra Festival of Speed.

2025 Repco Supercars Championship livery reveal dates

Team Date
Matt Stone Racing (#4) Saturday January 25
Tickford Racing (#55) Friday January 31
Shell V-Power Racing Team (#17 & #TBA) Thursday February 6
Erebus Motorsport (#9 & #99) Saturday February 8
Matt Stone Racing (#10 & #35) Tuesday February 11
Walkinshaw Andretti United (#2 & #25) Tuesday February 11
Team 18 (#18 & #20) Wednesday February 12
Blanchard Racing Team (#3 & #7) Thursday February 13
Tickford Racing (#6) Friday February 14
Red Bull Ampol Racing (#1, #88) Friday February 14 or 15 (TBD)
Penrite Racing (#19 & #26) Saturday February 15
PremiAir Racing (#31 & #62) Monday February 17
Brad Jones Racing TBA


* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#9

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

First new livery unveiled.....as mentioned it is MSR

MSR reveals first Supercars livery of 2025

Matt Stone Racing has announced a nine-round naming rights partnership with Supaglass for Cam Hill’s #4 Camaro this season.

The team confirmed the deal and associated livery – which closely resembles that used for selected rounds last year – today at the Canberra Festival of Speed.

Canberra-based Supaglass will back Hill for the Sydney, Taupo, Tasmania, Perth, Darwin, The Bend, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Adelaide events. As an aside, Cam Hill himself also hails from Canberra.

Image

Image

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Michkov
Advanced Member
Advanced Member
Posts: 1590
Joined: 19 years ago

#10

Post by Michkov »

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 2 weeks ago Supercars introduces new livery rule
Teams using the same livery design on multiple cars “must ensure there is an obvious differentiation to distinguish different cars.”
[/b]
Isn't that why cars are given unique numbers?
User avatar
MonteCristo
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11673
Joined: 9 years ago
Favourite Motorsport: Openwheel
Favourite Racing Car: Tyrrell P34/Protos
Favourite Driver: JV
Favourite Circuit: Road America
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#11

Post by MonteCristo »

Broc Feeney to race an openwheeler for the first time at the NZ GP next weekend (Formula Regional cars).

https://formulascout.com/australian-sup ... -gp/127939

Will Brown already on the grid.

Nice to see some crossover happening.
Oscar Piastri in F1! Catch the fever! Vettel Hate Club. Life membership.

2012 GTP Non-Championship Champion | 2012 Guess The Kai-Star Half Marathon Time Champion | 2018 GTP Champion | 2019 GTP Champion | 2024 GTP Accuracy Champion
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#12

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Is it April 1st? No.... ok a headline breaking tonight in Aus on just one website. True or False? Big news if its true.

EXCLUSIVE! Top GM team Triple 8 defecting to Ford!!?? :shocked: :dunno:

Get the popcorn out and hang on!

Supercar Extra have broken a story tonight that there will be an announcement tomorrow of confirmation that Triple 8, the benchmark team and GM Homologation team will be bailing on its GM Chevrolet arrangement and jumping ship back to Ford for next season, 2026.

I dont quite know what to believe. Is it based on some GM news of their intention to quit Supercars? It just seems odd that Triple 8 would want to revert to Ford who they walked out on some 15 years ago to become a factory Holden Team.

We are led to believe the Camaro is to be phased out as an ICE globally, so has Supercars run its course as a GM marketing tool? Locally there are no GM cars available, just the 4x4 trucks.... there have been rumours of GM doing something local since the demise of Holden, but at the end of the day it comes down to no go for an LHD car in a RHD market meansexpensive tooling for what is a minor market globally.

Strange also on the basis of Ford seemingly not having done such a good job in homologating their car which does seem to be struggling to match the pace of the GM Camaros. Of course maybe Ford have waved a great big sack of cash to T8 to become their official homologation team? :dunno: At the end of the day its all about money as much as winning and ifGM funding has evaporated then T* would follow the gold. Even if it involves returning to Ford.

At lead as far as Ford fans are concerned it would make up for the loss of WAU to Toyota as the Toyota homologation team..

Reports suggest that the announcement will be made by live stream and will be a joint statement made by both Ford in the US and T8 in Australia in a simultaneous conference announcement.

The story has been broken by Mark Fogarty who to me is normally a pretty good source of info.

Anyway here is the article as published in supercarxtra.com.au. Will they have scooped a huge story? It seems we will know in about 12 hours time if there is truth in it.

If it turns out to be fact it is HUGE news. A real WTF.
GM’s leading Supercars team Triple Eight will defect to Ford next year!
The bombshell switch is to be announced simultaneously in Australia and the USA late Friday morning AEDT.

Amid top-level security, SupercarXtra has learned that Triple Eight will lead Ford’s Supercars assault from 2026, ditching Chevrolet.

The super-secret change has been kept under wraps for weeks as General Motors’ top team in Supercars negotiated a lucrative factory backed defection.

Triple Eight’s big move will coincide with Walkinshaw Andretti United dropping Ford to bring Toyota into the V8 series.

Triple Eight will become Ford’s homologation team, replacing Dick Johnson Racing, which has led the Blue Oval’s return to Supercars with the Mustang since 2019.

The shock change is actually a return to Ford by Triple Eight, which ran factory backed Falcons from 2003-08.

After losing Ford’s support, it famously defected to Holden in 2010 and took over as the official Holden Racing Team in 2017.

The Brisbane-based super-squad has been General Motors’ primary Supercars teams through the death of Holden into Gen3 with the Camaro.

According to informed sources, Triple Eight’s move back to Ford will be jointly announced by team boss Jamie Whincup and Ford Motor Company chief – and racing enthusiast – Jim Farley in a livestream trans-Pacific hook-up.

The deal will be a major announcement during Ford Performance’s racing season launch at the company’s racing hub in North Carolina.

It’s understood the event will be beamed live to Ford Australia’s technical campus at Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north, attended by major Australian motoring and motor sport media.

Triple Eight’s return to Ford will be a seismic Supercars shake-up, in addition to Toyota’s entry, leaving Chevrolet without an established front-running team.

With Triple Eight, DJR and Tickford Racing, in ’26 Ford will have the most powerful line-up as WAU brings in heavyweight challenger Toyota.

Triple Eight’s re-defection also begs the question of GM’s future in Supercars.

No replacement for the Camaro as Chevrolet’s racing alternative has been nominated for NASCAR, much less locally.

Chevrolet, a super-niche brand in Australia, simply doesn’t have the brand horsepower of Ford’s Mustang.

The impending Triple Eight/Ford alliance is a key development as, I’m reliably informed, RACE seeks to float Supercars on the stock market.

A new broadcast deal is also looming. One way or another, Supercars in 2026 will be very different…
https://supercarxtra.com.au/news/exclus ... g-to-ford/

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
theracer120
Elite Member
Elite Member
Posts: 6312
Joined: 16 years ago
Real Name: Simon
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

#13

Post by theracer120 »

It's officially confirmed. Pretty wild. I assume some teams will continue running Camaros but I can't imagine too many wins for GM next year.
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#14

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

WOW Just wow!

Amazing that such a move, which would have taken some time to organise and put in place. with many meetings with Ford top brass probably here in Aus and also the US could have flown completely under the radar until 12 hours before the announcement was made and the deal confirmed with all the details details.

The details?

In simple terms at the end of this season Triple Eight will dump GM and from the start of 2026 they will lead Ford's Supercars program, including taking over Ford homologation duties from DJR.

From 2026 on T8 will field a pair of Red Bull Ampol backed Ford Mustangs whilst also becoming the Official sole Ford Homologation team, presumably on both engines and chassis / aero.

That means the DJR-owned Motorsport Powertrains is set to lose the development deal for the Ford V8s to the Triple Eight-aligned KRE Race Engines, currently the GM engine supplier.

It also leaves GM without a Supercars homologation team. Im sure this decision is not something GM were even slightly aware of, and with Toyota set to confirm their 2nd works partner team who do they turn to as a homologation team. The choice is limited..... Matt Stone Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Erebus Motorsport, Team 18, and PremiAir Racing (other than T8 this year) currently campaign Chevrolets. T18 are the hot tip to be joining the Toyota rans but that is pure speculation at this stage.

Whilst the T8 move reaffirms Fords commitment to Supercars in the long term, by the same token it says the opposite of GM who now have no Australian Auto Market alignment with products sold here. Camaro is set to be discontinued globally, certainly as an ICE powered car. To create greater uncertainty is that Camaro will become ineligible in NASCAR within the near future on the basis of production of the road car winding down. With the perception that Cadillac is becoming the motorsport part of GM given its F1 and WEC, IMSA etc activity....

Without doubt this only increases uncertainty over the future of GM in Supercars, a futurethat at this stage remains unclear

This confirmation will for sure have far reaching effects on the whole Supercars set up and there will be many more changes as a result.

One other benefit to T8 over this new Ford Alliance is with the number of opportunities it gives T8 to become involved with in the Ford Clobal Motorsports scene given the recent undertaking of a GT3 and GT4 Mustang programme. Opportunity know for T8 with its Ford alliance.

The Ford and T8 PR department have been busy today! Lots of images of T8Red Bull Ampol Mustangs doing the rounds.....
Image

Even the T8 Supercheap Wildcard programme gets in on the Ford act.

Image

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
User avatar
Everso Biggyballies
Legendary Member
Legendary Member
Posts: 52654
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Chris
Favourite Motorsport: Anything that goes left and right.
Favourite Racing Car: Too Many to mention
Favourite Driver: Kimi,Niki,Jim(none called Michael)
Favourite Circuit: Nordschleife, Spa, Mt Panorama.
Car(s) Currently Owned: Audi SQ5 3.0L V6 TwinTurbo
Location: Just moved 3 klms further away so now 11 klms from Albert Park, Melbourne.

#15

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

GM have made a simple and brief statement suggesting disappointment over events of the last 24 hours

Interestingly their statement talks only of 2025 with no mention of any future plans. beyond that. It isit has to be said, a very brief statement. I daresay with time a more informing statement will be forthcoming. It seems clear GM have been taken quite by surprise with this being their immediate response.
“GM has had a long and highly successful partnership with Triple Eight Race Engineering,” a GM statement read.

“We share the disappointment with fans about their announcement, and the news that they will be moving to Ford in 2026."

“Eyes forward on the 2025 Supercars season – and we look forward to extending our full support to all the Chevrolet Racing Camaro teams, for another year of on track success.”

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)

* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
Post Reply