Walkinshaw's message to WAU faithful after drought-breaking title
Ryan Walkinshaw paid tribute to long-time WAU fans, personnel, and partners
Chaz Mostert claimed WAU's first championship since 2002
Mostert the winner of Supercars' inaugural Finals Series
It's taken 23 years, a reinvention, and a manufacturer change, but Walkinshaw Andretti United have finally climbed back to the top of the Repco Supercars Championship.
The Walkinshaw team has gone through several key changes in just the last 10 years alone, losing the Holden Racing Team moniker in 2016, before reinventing themselves as Walkinshaw Andretti United for the 2018 season.
Global giants Andretti Autosport and United Autosports, led by Michael Andretti and McLaren Formula 1 team CEO Zak Brown, became part of the ownership group, but it was two further changes that set the wheels in motion.
In 2020, Mostert was signed from Tickford, whilst for the change to Gen3 in 2023, WAU would switch to Ford, receiving backing from the Blue Oval.
Throughout the Gen3 era, Mostert has been a shining light for Ford, with a stunning mid-season surge in 2024 almost putting him in the points lead before his season fell away through the enduros.
This time however, Mostert's charge was perfectly timed with the new Finals Series, with the 33-year-old heaping the pressure on Broc Feeney, and capitalising on final day heartbreak for the Triple Eight star to claim the title.
Through it all, there has remained both a dedicated Walkinshaw fanbase, and some key staff who have experienced all of the highs and lows in the past 23 years.
It's these people, along with key partners who have become part of the Walkinshaw fabric, that owner Ryan Walkinshaw was most willing to thank on Sunday afternoon in Adelaide.
"Not just to our fans, but I spoke to our team this morning and said that there's so many people invested in us getting the result we wanted to get today," Walkinshaw told media.
"Fans and partners who have been through a lot of ups and downs, the Holden Racing Team, performance turning off, reinventing ourselves as Walkinshaw Andretti United, building up that performance over the last four-five years.
"A lot of people have stuck with us for a long time, especially some of our partners, Mobil 1 for example, Morris Finance have been with us for 15 years, so seeing them out with a championship is really important to us.
"We call them the walking dead, they just keep building back up since we left Holden, and to be honest to reward them with this result is fantastic, and our partners as well.
"But I think most importantly, as I said to the guys this morning, we needed to do it for each other, and ourselves.
"There's no one who has been feeling all the emotions and the ups and downs of the last few years more than all the members in our team.
"We've got some guys who have been with us for a very long time who have been dreaming of this moment, so for them to be able to get that is really, really special."
