Blanchard's pride in new-car build
Building a brand new car marks another “important step” for the Blanchard Racing Team, says Tim Blanchard.
BRT revealed its progress on chassis BRT001, the team’s first Supercar built in-house.
The car is complete in CoolDrive blue, and the 5.4-lire engine has also been installed.
The CoolDrive Racing squad’s third season will be its first with a brand new car.
It comes after the Box Hill team used former Tickford chassis in 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 season, the first of the Gen3 era, will see all teams run brand new cars.
BRT joins the likes of PremiAir Racing and Matt Stone Racing to have brand new cars for the first time.
'This marks an important step in the development of BRT'
The CoolDrive-backed team ran former Tickford machinery in 2021 and 2022, while PremiAir and MSR raced Triple Eight cars.
For the first time since 2013 — the first year of the Car of the Future era — all teams will have new cars.
For Blanchard, whose team has continued to expand since 2021, the new car is proof of a fully BRT product.
Expanding into Super2 and the signing of Aaron Love also proved key steps for Blanchard, who is driven to one day run a two-car main game team.
The veteran driver-turned-team owner praised lead engineer Mirko De Rosa, who has overseen the Gen3 Mustang build.
More components will arrive in coming weeks before testing begins at month’s end.
"This marks an important step in the development of BRT,” Blanchard said.
“As many components as possible have been designed and manufactured in house meaning BRT001 is truly a BRT car.
Chassis BRT001
"Our spares package and Gen3 specific equipment is also well advanced as our preparation for the season ramps up.”
BRT001 isn’t all that's new for the team, which welcomes new driver Todd Hazelwood.
The 2017 Super2 champion replaces Tim Slade, who has shifted to PremiAir Racing.
Hazelwood will drive a Ford for the first time since his maiden main game campaign with MSR in 2018.
BRT will roll out its new Gen3 Mustang for the first time at a Winton shakedown on February 1.
All Victorian teams will test at Winton on February 7, before an all-in Sydney test on February 22.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle on March 10-12.
Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
