Seven drivers who returned to old teams
In an odd coincidence, the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship grid features two drivers returning to teams they had previously raced for.
Late last year, it was confirmed Will Davison had signed for Dick Johnson Racing, with David Reynolds locked in at Kelly Grove Racing last week.
Both teams had undergone several changes between the two stints for their respective drivers, none greater than DJR's transition from cash-strapped cellar-dwellers to championship winners.
Supercar.com lists seven drivers who recently reunited with previous teams.
Greg Murphy
In 2003 and 2004, Greg Murphy and Kmart Commodores ruled the roost at Mount Panorama.
Murphy's consecutive Great Race victories came alongside Rick Kelly, whose family owned the team.
In 2001, Murphy moved with Kmart sponsorship from Gibson Motorsport and won on home soil at Pukekohe. After the early 2003 collapse of Tom Walkinshaw Racing, the two-car team was purchased by Holden before being quickly on-sold to Rick's parents, John and Margaret Kelly.
Murphy left for Paul Weel Racing in 2005, before leaving for a three-year Tasman Motorsport stint between 2007 and 2009.
After a single campaign for Paul Morris Motorsport in 2010, the Kiwi signed with Kelly Racing, which reunited Murphy with the family team he helped to so much success nearly a decade earlier.
His highlight for the Kellys was a surprise 2011 Bathurst pole, which he backed up 24 hours later with a podium alongside the late Allan Simonsen.
Injuries kept him sidelined for much of the 2012 season, which proved to be his last full-time campaign before he shifted to co-driving duties for HRT.
Garth Tander
Garth Tander made a name for himself at Garry Rogers Motorsport, winning the Bathurst 1000 on his third attempt in 2000 - the same year he finished runner-up to Mark Skaife in the championship.
He remained at GRM until 2004, and replaced Greg Murphy at the HSV Dealer Team, which had rebranded following the exit of title sponsor Kmart.
Between 2005 and 2007, Tander won 26 races and a championship before taking the #1 to HRT.
He remained with the factory team for nine seasons, adding two further Bathurst wins in 2009 and 2011, before he left at the end of 2016 - the same year Holden took its factory funding to Triple Eight.
While one door closed, another opened in familiar territory, with Tander returning to Rogers' squad 12 years after he left.
The romantic story didn’t eventuate, however, with Tander recording just two podiums in two seasons before he moved into co-driving duties with Triple Eight.
Jack Le Brocq
In 2020, Jack Le Brocq linked up with Tickford for the second time following a successful stint in the development series.
Le Brocq's solid 2020 aboard the Supercheap Auto Mustang featured a maiden win at Sydney Motorsport Park and a podium at Tailem Bend.
It came in his second stint with the Ford team, which helped him to second in the 2016 Dunlop Super2 Series under its former Prodrive guise.
In 2016, he claimed seven Super2 wins from 16 starts, with his runner-up finish sandwiched between a pair of third-place finishes.
He made his main game debut with Erebus Motorsport in the 2015 enduros, but a career highlight came 12 months later alongside Cameron Waters.
Aboard the Prodrive-prepared #6 Monster Energy Falcon, Le Brocq just missed out on the podium in the Great Race, with Waters just 0.38s behind third-place finisher Nick Percat.
James Courtney
After claiming a remarkable title for Dick Johnson Racing in 2010, James Courtney traded blue for red, signing with HRT.
It was as high-profile a defection as Supercars had seen, although it wasn't a completely new venture for Courtney.
He made his main game debut with HRT at the 2005 enduros alongside the legendary Jim Richards, with the duo combining for a top 10 finish in the Sandown 500.
However, Courtney’s maiden Bathurst 1000 appearance didn’t last long, with the rookie crashing the #22 entry early, on a day Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly steered the lead #2 entry to victory.
Courtney’s second HRT stint started with victory in Abu Dhabi, but his title defence quickly unravelled as he finished 10th overall.
He would win seven races for the team in nine years, recording a best season finish of sixth in 2014.
Jason Bright
Jason Bright drove for some of the biggest teams in pit lane, and enjoyed some great success.
His shift from Holden to Ford in 2005, when he moved to Ford Performance Racing, began with a run to ninth overall.
In 2006, Bright was one of the drivers of the season, claiming five wins en route to fifth in the championship.
Aboard the black and yellow Caterpiller Ford, he won at Winton, Darwin, Sandown, Tasmania and Bahrain, but he left at year's end to join his own Britek Motorsport team.
He would later lease one of his two Racing Entitlement Contracts and ran one car, before shifting to Brad Jones Racing in 2010.
In 2017, he left BJR and rejoined the Ford team he left a decade earlier, which had renamed itself as Prodrive Racing Australia.
After a frustrating run to 20th overall, he retired from full-time driving, before co-driving alongside Lee Holdsworth with Team 18 in 2018.
David Reynolds
A renewed Kelly effort in 2021, already boosted by investment from the Grove Group, will be skippered by former Bathurst winner David Reynolds.
A decade ago, a fresh-faced Reynolds drove a Stratco-backed Holden for the Kelly squad, but lasted just one season before he shifted to Ford Performance Racing from 2012.
He showed glimpses of his prodigious speed in the Kelly Commodore, but he could only manage three top 10 finishes in 28 starts.
Third overall in 2015 led to a move to Erebus Motorsport, where he claimed his greatest triumph at the 2017 Great Race.
After winless seasons in 2019 and 2020, he needed a new challenge, and Kelly Grove Racing came calling.
Will Davison
Will Davison joined Dick Johnson Racing for the 2005 enduros, before he was elevated to a full-time drive with the team the following year after the exit of Glenn Seton.
They were big shoes to fill, regardless of Seton's recent form; but a disappointing run to 19th overall was no reflection of Davison's talent amid DJR’s financial woes.
Armed with backing from Jim Beam, the team made big gains in 2007, with Davison and Steven Johnson combining for a memorable Bathurst podium.
Davison’s breakout 2008, which featured wins at Sydney and Winton, saw HRT come knocking.
Bathurst wins in 2009 and 2016 followed, but Davison kept bouncing from team to team before he finally settled with Phil Munday’s Tickford-led operation.
Sadly, COVID-19 saw the team exit, but Davison made a triumphant return at Bathurst alongside Cameron Waters, paving the way for a remarkable second stint with DJR, which has become a championship heavyweight.
