HRT Side By Side with Iconic Sports Team

The Holden Racing Team will pay homage to another iconic Australian team when it pulls on the famous black and white stripes of the Collingwood Football Club.

Former V8 Supercars Champions Garth Tander and James Courtney will go ‘Side by Side’ during next week’s Wilson Security Sandown 500, the bonnets of their HRT VF Commodores adorned with the official Collingwood Football Club Magpie emblem, complemented by black and white stripes.

Tander and Courtney revealed the one-off livery as the Magpies underwent their final training session at the Westpac Centre ahead of tomorrow night’s Elimination Final against Port Adelaide at the MCG.

Three-time Bathurst winner Tander said while he was not a Magpies supporter, Collingwood’s ‘Side By Side’ motto reflected HRT’s mantra, ‘I Bleed Red’.

“Collingwood and HRT are very similar; both teams work together, side-by-side, with individuals making sacrifices to achieve common goals – whether that’s winning the AFL Grand Final on that one day in September, or Australia’s greatest race, the Bathurst 1000,” Tander said.

“Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, you’ve got to admire the Magpies and how the footy club goes about its business.“

Brought up on rugby league, Sydney-born Courtney saw similarities between Collingwood and HRT’s legion of fans.

“I may be a Sydney ‘westie’, but one thing I do know about AFL is that Collingwood supporters are just like HRT fans,” Courtney said.

“They are the most loyal and passionate of all fans.

“Our fans ‘bleed red’, and for the Magpie army it’s ‘us against them’. I love it!”

GM Holden’s Motorsport and Sponsorship Manager Simon McNamara said HRT and Collingwood were key components of its marketing and sponsorship mix and it was “only natural” to bring the two together at this time of year.

Tander will be joined by his 2011 Bathurst 1000-winning co-driver Nick Percat, while four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy teams up with Courtney, for the PIRTEK Enduro Cup.

HRT is not the only team to change liveries for the Wilson Security Sandown 500, with Lee Holdsworth’s IRWIN Tools Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG running a ‘Thanks’ slogan recognising National Tradesman Day, and the Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcons running an updated Wilson Security scheme.

Tickets are available for the Wilson Security Sandown 500 through Ticketek. There is an Enduro Pass ticketing option, granting access to all three events at 30 percent off; or for those following at home, the V8 SuperView Enduro Pass for $14.95 offering live and uninterrupted streaming of the three events. Alternatively, see the Channel Seven TV Schedule here.