Chahda ready to make the most of ex-Triple Eight Camaro
Matt Chahda to pair with Brad Vaughan in all-Super2 enduro wildcard
Matt Chahda Motorsport have purchased ex-Triple Eight Camaro
MCM to contest full enduro campaign for the first time
Matt Chahda is ready to make the most of his second Supercars enduro wildcard, beginning with a Penrite Oil Sandown 500 debut in an ex-Triple Eight Camaro.
The Super2 veteran of 57 round starts returns to the main game with his family team, having bought the Triple Eight Camaro that won at Sandown last year in the hands of Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup.
Chahda last appeared in the Supercars Championship at the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000, pairing up with Jaylyn Robotham in an ex-WAU Commodore ZB to finish on the lead lap in 18th.
Now having outright ownership of the Gen3 Camaro as opposed to a lease deal, Chahda and co-driver Brad Vaughan have undertaken two test days at Winton.
Speaking with Supercars.com, Chahda believes that the Matt Chahda Motorsport team is better equipped to tackle the endurance races with Triple Eight machinery and support.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s cool that it’s actually our car, you know? It’s at our workshop, and our names are on it,” said Chahda, who will be substituted in the Dunlop Series by rising star Aron Shields at Sandown and Bathurst.
“We’re sharing a boom with Triple Eight. It was much easier with them, buying the car and building the relationship versus just leasing a car. Now, we’re sort of working with the same guys we bought the car off.”
The test days were not only an opportunity for Chahda and Vaughan to adjust to the demands of the Gen3 as opposed to the Gen2 machinery run in Super2, but also an opportunity to trial changes to set-up.
The major differences in set-up requirements between Winton and Triple Eight’s designated test track at Queensland Raceway also provided a challenge for the MCM crew.
“The test days were good. The thing is, we were messing with the car more than we thought we would," Chahda said.
“Coming from Triple Eight, it was all fully prepped. We thought we’d just be driving it, but then, you’ve gotta remember Triple Eight doesn’t go to Winton, so we ended up playing with the car a fair bit more to get what we wanted out of it.
“But that’s good, it gives the mechanics more of a chance to do car tweaks, and we learned a lot more about it.”
Chahda is also looking forward to taking a senior role in the driver line-up for the enduros, where Tickford Super2 ace Vaughan will be making his first starts in Supercars.
Pairing up with the 2022 Super3 champion is an exciting prospect for Chahda, however he is aware of the extra pressures outside of the car that comes with driving in the main game.
“I’ll mentor Brad through the two races, he’s obviously in Super2, he’s fast and what not, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on once you’re in the main game," Chahda said.
“There’s the media stuff and the attention and everything else. I’m not doing Super2, but he’ll be doing double duty, so I’m definitely taking more of the lead driver role.
“We’re going to need to do that because we need to take a bit of the pressure off him doing Super2 as well, they’re big weekends.
“Doing Sandown as well is something we always wanted to do, we’ve proven we can build a team that can do these main game races.”
Chahda and Vaughan will be one of two wildcards for the enduros, sharing the final garages with Craig Lowndes and Cooper Murray’s Triple Eight Camaro.
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship shifts into enduro mode at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 from September 13-15. Tickets for the 60th anniversary event are on sale now.
