Image Racing secures final SBR Falcon

After a solid season in the Dunlop V8 Supercar Series with former ‘main game’ regular Taz Douglas, Image Racing team boss Terry Wyhoon has secured a second former Stone Brothers FG Falcon for the 2014 season.

The final round of the 2013 season saw Douglas return to the podium with arguably his strongest run of the year. The final round also provided Wyhoon with an opportunity he’d been looking for all season.

“I’ve always been keen on the economies of scale that a two-car operation provides and had been keen to get my hands on the ex-Tim Slade Stone Brothers Falcon for a while,” Wyhoon admitted. 

“As it happened, the Russells were keen to sell SBR FG05 after the final round – the car that Aaren Russell ran all year – and they knew exactly who to call, and I jumped at the opportunity.

“SBR05 was the last FG Falcon built by SBR, and one of the last 2012-spec Supercars ever built. That now gives us the two of the last FG Falcons constructed by SBR, and with Jimmy and Matt Stone working alongside us this year, it made perfect sense to bring the car back into the fold. 

“Having contested the Dunlop Series in the past with two cars, and subsequently the Kumho Series, I can see the benefit of having two cars, especially two cars that are identical, so spares and parts will be interchangeable which is ideal. We’ll also be able to share data between the two cars, but the big trick will be finding the right driver.

“I’ve been talking to a number of pretty high profile candidates throughout the year, but with the new car coming online, the calls have been coming thick and fast, so now we have to find a driver that will work within Image Racing – like Taz – and work alongside him as well to put us in a position to go after the Championship next year. 

“It has been a big learning curve all year for the Dunlop teams that stepped up to the 2012-spec Supercars and to be honest it took us a little longer to get a handle on the ex-Van Gisbergen FG03 than I’d hoped. But by season’s end, we had a really good feel for the car and Taz was arguably one of the fastest four drivers in the field, so if we start season 2014 with all of that behind us, I would be surprised if we weren’t in the title chase all year.”

Douglas finished sixth overall for the year.