Supercars teams edge towards Gen3 milestone
The transition into the Gen3 era is nearly complete, with 23 cars having now completed track running.
In front of a big crowd at Queensland Raceway on Thursday, three teams — Dick Johnson Racing, PremiAir Racing and Matt Stone Racing — all ran their second cars.
Team 18 will be the final team to roll out its new cars, having delayed its shakedown by a day due to steering wheel issues.
Come Friday morning, and both Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye will have enjoyed track time aboard their new Camaros.
Friday's Team 18 laps will ensure that all 25 cars that will tackle the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will have hit the track.
It has been a moving week for teams, with 15 new Gen3 cars recording their first ever laps.
Erebus Motorsport tested its new Coca-Cola-backed cars at Winton on Monday and Tuesday, and were joined by Tickford Racing on both days.
Thomas Randle tested his Castrol Ford on Monday and Tuesday, with Cam Waters lapping his car for the second time on Tuesday.
Brad Jones Racing rolled out its four new Camaros on consecutive days, on Tuesday and Wednesday at Winton.
BJR and Tickford are the only four-car operations in Supercars, with the former opting to test its four-strong fleet two days in a row.
Tickford’s Fords for James Courtney and Declan Fraser made their debuts on Wednesday, as did David Reynolds’ #26 Penrite Mustang.
Fraser's performance was notably impressive, given the Queenslander battled a bout of tonsilitis on the day.
Wednesday also saw the highly-anticipated debut of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s new Gen3 Ford Mustangs.
Up north, DJR (#11 Mustang), MSR (#35 Camaro) and PremiAir Racing (#23 Camaro) completed a half-day of running.
That, however, didn't deter a large influx of spectators watching on from the track surrounds as the new cars pounded around Queensland Raceway.
DJR’s #17 Mustang, MSR’s #34 Camaro and PremiAir Racing’s #31 Camaro ran at Queensland Raceway last week.
The only teams not to test this week were Red Bull Ampol Racing and Blanchard Racing Team.
Triple Eight postponed its second test to later in February, having been satisfied with its bumper two-car test last Thursday.
Broc Feeney and Shane van Gisbergen combined for approximately 650km of running across Triple Eight's two Camaros.
BRT, meanwhile, has already completed two days of track running with its new #3 CoolDrive Mustang.
The Box Hill-based team was the first to roll out a team-built Gen3 car on Wednesday February 1.
Following this week's testing, teams will shift their focus interstate to Sydney Motorsport Park.
All 25 cars will share the Western Sydney venue next Wednesday for an all-in test day.
Prior to Sydney, a number of teams will reveal their 2023 racing liveries.
Still yet to uncover their new looks are Red Bull Ampol Racing and PremiAir Racing, as well as two cars from Tickford Racing.
Waters and Fraser ran in plain-black schemes for their respective test days, as did PremiAir Racing.
Red Bull Ampol Racing, meanwhile, ran in a special one-off dark blue and silver test livery last week.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.
Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
