Why Tickford is returning to four-car model in 2022

Tickford Racing CEO Tim Edwards says it was always the goal for his team to return to a four-car model.

It was confirmed Friday that Tickford's bid was successful in acquiring one of the two parked Racing Entitlements Contracts (REC) for the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship.

It means the 2022 season will feature a 25-car grid, the largest since 2018.

Tickford ran a four-car model between 2013 and 2020, before downscaling to three cars in 2021.

However, that model will only last a season, with the Ford team returning to a four-car model.

WATCH: NINE SEARING DARWIN MOMENTS

The 2020 season was turbulent for the Campbellfield organisation; Will Davison was left without a drive after the Phil Munday-led 23Red Racing squad, which was run out of the Tickford stable, closed its doors.

James Courtney arrived in Davison's place, and remained at the team in 2021.

It came at the expense of Lee Holdsworth, who missed out on a drive as Tickford downsized.

“We’ve previously run four cars of our own, and we’ve run customer cars as fourth cars,” Edwards told Supercars.com.

“Most recently with Phil Munday, then what happened with him in 2020, we dropped back to three cars this year.

“Our business is built around being a four-car model, whether it’s four of our own, or three of our own with a customer in-house."

“Our business is built around being a four-car model..."

Tickford has already hit the front in 2021, with Cameron Waters still the most recent race winner following his triumph in the OTR SuperSprint finale last month.

None of Tickford's current three full-time drivers are locked in for next season, which will also see the introduction of the Gen3 rules package.

Edwards remained coy on which driver would fill the fourth seat, with 2020 Dunlop Super2 Series champion Thomas Randle the likely candidate.

This weekend's Merlin Darwin Triple Crown marks another key dress rehearsal for Randle, who impressed at The Bend last month.

While nonplussed at looking too far down the road, Edwards was pleased to see his team return to the four-car model it successfully managed for eight seasons.

“We’ve got a big facility in Melbourne, and great engineering production infrastructure, and it’s geared around running a larger operation.

“It’s been our goal to go back to four cars, and obviously the tender came about.

“We jumped in, and here we are."

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory this weekend for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.