Team 18 sets shakedown plan for new Reynolds Camaro

Team 18 is planning to roll out David Reynolds' new Chevrolet Camaro in a shakedown before it hits the track in anger at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

The Melbourne team has hurriedly put together a new car for Reynolds following his major qualifying crash at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The new car, chassis T18-003, will make its competitive debut at the upcoming round at Surfers Paradise.

The team is preparing to shake down the new car at Queensland Raceway on Wednesday, two days before track action begins up the road on the Gold Coast.

“It’s come a long way since yesterday, particularly with the body work and the exterior of the car," Team 18 Crew Chief and Signwriter Mitch Croke said on Saturday.

“The guys actually did a run up earlier today. The mechanics work through with the data engineers and do a full systems check on the car, make sure everything inside the car is working how it should be working and all of that went well.

“Even things like radios, all that sort of stuff is all sorted. We're finishing off the bodywork now and then later this afternoon, tonight I'll come in and make the thing look nice and pretty and finish up all the sticker work."

The accident was recorded at 32G, and led to a troubled run to 24th in the Great Race for Reynolds and Warren Luff.

It has been all hands on deck at Team 18, with Mark Winterbottom's car also undergoing a livery change from its standard DEWALT colours to a Cub Cadet livery.

"It’s also a flyaway round to some degree where we don't have our truck on the Gold Coast, so we've got our flight containers, so people have packing them in the background and they've already gone and then other stuff with the truck to make it more easy to unpack when we get to the racetrack," Croke added.

“Matt Beall is on day three of chassis loom. He's almost there, it's a few little tidy ups now and it won't be long until we'll have, the cool box, drink bottle, all that sort of stuff in it. Dennis [Huijser] has been working hard on all the driver leg protection, pedal box and all that sort of stuff.

“It's looking a lot more like a complete race car. It’s late Saturday afternoon. Tomorrow the plan is that the guys will drop it on the patch, they'll throw a setup in it and then we'll load into the truck.

“The plan at this stage is to shake the car down on Wednesday afternoon at Queensland Raceway, then it'll come to the track just a little bit later than the standard truck unpack for Gold Coast.”

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25-27. Tickets for the event are on sale now.