Team 18 Holdens to sport special tribute
Team 18 will run a special decal on its Commodore entries at the CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint this weekend.
A montage of photos selected by each member of their travelling crew will appear on the side intrusion protection panels of the IRWIN and DEWALT Holdens, paying tribute to loved ones back home in Victoria.
The two-car outfit has now been on the road for six weeks, with many more still ahead before they return home – likely after Bathurst in October.
“We’ve got a message on the inside panel which is to our friends and family around the country who we miss so much,” said Scott Pye, who scored Team 18’s maiden podium as a standalone squad last weekend.
“For me I’ve got my dog Basil, my sister, my niece and nephew, I’ve been thinking about all of my family while we have been on the road.
“For all of our crew it’s a difficult time at the moment, none of us want to be away from our family but we are doing what we can to keep this sport alive and I hope we can put on a great show this weekend for everyone watching at home.”
Teammate Mark Winterbottom, a father-of-three, echoed those sentiments.
“We’ve got our families riding with us this weekend which is a nice touch for the team to have on the side pillars of the car,” Winterbottom said.
“It’s pretty special to do that for them watching from home, and hopefully they can bring some extra fight and good luck to the team this weekend.”
Winterbottom holds seventh in the championship after another consistent outing at the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown event.
"Normally it’s 12 months between events at the same track, but this time it’s only five days which is great from a performance point of view,” he said.
“I thought our team performance at the Triple Crown was good, our results were strong and we hauled a good bank of points towards our championship.
“Going back there we always want to do better, and if we can do that then we will be in contention for podiums, we have been so close to it the last few rounds in the IRWIN car.
“The soft-tyre format will be interesting in how that will play out, but we will pretty well roll out for that first lap on soft tyres knowing what to expect from the track.”
