Supercheap Auto Racing Launches Into New Era at Clipsal 500

Supercheap Auto Racing has launched into a brand new era today, with young charger Tim Slade taking the covers off his new-look SCAR VF Commodore at the Adelaide Parklands Circuit.

For Slade, the occasion represents a homecoming to the Supercheap Auto brand – where he made his main-game debut in 2009.

“I made lots of fantastic relationships with everyone at Supercheap Auto in my first year of V8 Supercars and I’ve remained good friends with everyone, so it’s good to be back as part of the family,” Slade said. 

Slade already sampled the Walkinshaw Racing-prepared SCAR Commodore at the sydney.com V8 Supercars Test Day just a week ago, when it was painted in an interim livery.

He said the car now has a design to match its performance.

“The car looks spectacular and will stand out on the track. The new look, ‘new ‘ driver and a ‘new’ team for me mark a fresh new era for the Supercheap Auto Racing team,” Slade said.

“I was very happy with our test day form, and now I have a car that looks fast as well as going fast.

“We’ve got a very competitive package – the Walkinshaw cars showed great speed on street circuits late last year, so we’re heading into the season with confidence.

“This season, I want to be back in the top-five consistently, and win my first V8 race.”

As a proud South Australian, the Clipsal 500 is one of Slade’s favourite V8 Supercars events and he is eagerly anticipating his first laps around the track in Friday practice. 

“The Clipsal 500 is a really awesome event,” Slade said. 

“As the opening race of the season, it’s just massive. And this year the format is different with the twilight races on Saturday, so I think that there’s going to be plenty of excitement for everyone."

Supercheap Auto Racing also confirmed Tony D’Alberto as co-driver for the three-event PIRTEK Enduro Cup – the Wilson Security Sandown 500, Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600.

D’Alberto, whose family-owned team has a long association with Walkinshaw Racing, is looking forward to co-driving with Tim Slade for the 2014 endurance events. 

“Joining Supercheap Auto Racing for the PIRTEK Enduro Cup is a fantastic opportunity, and it gives me a great chance of success at some of the year’s most important races,” D’Alberto said. 

“It’s going to be difficult watching this weekend, but knowing I’m co-driving with Tim in a team that will be amongst the most competitive come Bathurst softens the blow.” 

The unveil was the final stage of a successful 10-day social media competition, in which fans were asked to guess parts of the race car and unjumble a series of letters to reveal the launch location, “Clipsal Pit”. 

The competition attracted almost half a million views on the team’s Facebook page, more than a thousand entries, with followers of the page increasing by five per cent.

Practice and qualifying for the Clipsal 500 will be held on Friday, followed by two 125km races on Saturday and one 250km race on Sunday. Tickets are available for the season opener now.