The 2015 grid: Part one

After a V8 Supercars season is complete, there are plenty of changes carried out behind the scenes to ensure each team has the best package possible heading into the new year.

While everyone is looking for race wins and maximum points, each team has key goals to tick off and is realistic about what they are looking to achieve.

The first lot of challengers we look at are gunning to get further to the front this year. With driver, engineer and crew changes - as well as tweaks to the V8 Supercars, the first episode looks at 2015's developing teams.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

Expanding to two cars this season, LDM welcomes Nick Percat and Tim Blanchard to the seats of the Triple Eight-built Holden Commodores.

The arrival of Bathurst 1000 winner Nick Percat was a coup for the developing team, which is looking to push further to the front this season, after flashes of promise from Russell Ingall in the sole LDM entry last year.

Percat had spent his V8 Supercars career driving a Walkinshaw Racing Commodore, having debuted as a full-timer with the team last season - but a shuffle of RECs (Racing Entitlement Licences) meant he would need a new home for 2015.

The 26-year old has every faith in his new team and boss Lucas Dumbrell, who is an old friend.

"They're a small team, but they have a massive heart and really strong will to get a good car on the grid, be competitive and push for those podiums, like they were last year," Percat said.

Blanchard returns to the Championship after spending 2014 as a co-driver with LDM, and running full-time in 2013 with Dick Johnson Racing.

While the team ran plain liveries at the weekend's sydney.com SuperTest, both cars' 2015 looks will be revealed prior to the Clipsal 500.

Erebus Motorsport

A shock departure from Lee Holdsworth last season left a seat open at Erebus, and young gun Ash Walsh was more than happy to step up after competing in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series for the past four years.

"I'm under no illusions of the job in front of me - but having Will [Davison] as a teammate has given me a yardstick... if I can match it with him I'm doing as good a job as I can," Walsh said.

His teammate enters his second year with the developing team, and after having been a regular title contender for the past few years, Davison is itching for more results at the front of the field - particularly after earning ARMOR ALL Pole Position at Sydney last year.

"I'm feeling really confident, obviously very comfortable in the team now and we ticked a few boxes last year," Davison said.

"I think it's a really fresh, exciting time in the team and naturally we can only go better than last year ... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really hungry for success."

The team achieved its first pole in the Erebus guise with Davison behind the wheel, and first race win with Holdsworth at Winton last year.

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Volvo S60 driver Scott McLaughlin catapulted the new blue team to the front of the field in 2014, and for the 21-year old the only way forward is up.

After achieving race wins, pole positions and earning the Barry Sheene Medal for fairest and best last year, McLaughlin is focused on the Championship and knows consistency will be the key in 2015.

"For me it's a privilege to be a genuine title contender, but I have to deliver," McLaughlin said.

"We've just got to make sure we're up the front every time - that's qualifying, practice, everything. We have to have a strong car every session."

On the other side of the garage, David Wall joins the team, and will be looking to prove his worth as a driver as he moves into what he believes is the most competitive seat of his career in V8 Supercars.

Wall replaces Robert Dahlgren, who headed back to Sweden after spending 12 months with the team to help understand and develop the Volvos.

Wilson Security also joins for 2015 as a new naming rights sponsor.

Nissan Motorsport

The four-car Nissan Motorsport group has shifted closer to the front of the pit lane, after strong performances by Michael Caruso and James Moffat last year.

Caruso finished 10th in the title fight and believes the group can improve on that result this time around.

"We want to be further up the field," he said. "Podiums are critical for us and hopefully by the end of the year, enough of those means looking good in the Championship."

The Nissans have had an aerodynamic tweak over the off-season, and early results were looking positive during the sydney.com SuperTest with Rick and Todd Kelly locking out the top spot in all of Saturday's sessions.

"The aerodynamic improvements we've been able to showcase in 2015 are really just part of the whole puzzle," Rick explained.

"We've still got a little bit of work to do on the horsepower front to get to where we'd love that to be, and also good driving through the weekend - it's the whole thing that gets a great result."

Caruso's Nissan will this year run the manufacturer livery debuted at the sydney.com SuperTest. Rick's Altima will continue to run a Jack Daniel's livery, to be revealed ahead of Clipsal, with Moffat and Todd's liveries and sponsors also to be unveiled closer to the season opener.

Stay tuned this week as we look at all the teams on the 2015 V8 Supercars grid, as the year's first race, the Clipsal 500, looms.