The first time Frosty and Reynolds were teammates

For the second time, David Reynolds and Mark Winterbottom will be teammates, with the Bathurst winners linking up at Team 18 for the 2024 season.

Reynolds joins Winterbottom at Charlie Schwerkolt’s team, having departed Penrite Racing. The 2017 Bathurst winner replaces Scott Pye, who joins Triple Eight as a co-driver.

A Reynolds/Winterbottom pairing isn’t new — the duo raced together between 2012 and 2015 at Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia.

As it was in 2012, Reynolds joins a team that has long had Winterbottom at the forefront, with ‘Frosty’ joining Team 18 from Tickford Racing in 2019. 

Winterbottom had been FPR’s leading light since joining in 2006, but had yet to crack Bathurst or championship success when Reynolds arrived.

Reynolds, meanwhile, was chasing his maiden podium, pole and win after lean stints in the Walkinshaw and Kelly Racing stables.

2012

Come 2012, and FPR was a force, sharing all wins that season with eventual champions and Bathurst winners Triple Eight, with Jamie Whincup dominating.

In FPR’s satellite Rod Nash Racing entry, Reynolds finished a career-best eighth overall and scored his first pole (Townsville) and podium (Bathurst) along the way.

Winterbottom won three of the first 10 races and led the points, but fell away to finish third.

2013

Reynolds remained with FPR, Winterbottom and Will Davison for 2013, with Schwerkolt also joining the squad with a fourth entry, driven by Will’s brother Alex.

Winterbottom and Davison both challenged for wins, Winterbottom taking an emotional triumph at Mount Panorama. However, Triple Eight ultimately had the team’s measure and won both titles, with Davison leaving for Erebus for 2014.

The 2013 season was a moving year for Reynolds, who finally cracked victory from pole alongside Dean Canto at the Gold Coast 600.

But tensions began to show as well, Reynolds spun out of podium contention by Winterbottom in Darwin on a weekend he arguably had the fastest car.

2014

Schwerkolt stayed on for 2014, albeit with Jack Perkins in the car, while young star Chaz Mostert replaced Davison.

Winterbottom and Reynolds were the elder statesmen in the FPR stable, and again, Winterbottom led the points only to fall away in the second half of the year.

The team’s season was highlighted by a stunning last-lap Bathurst triumph for Mostert, which came on a day Canto was reduced to tears after Reynolds’ race ended in heartbreaking fashion under Safety Car conditions.

One podium — at the last round — was the highlight in a bitter year for Reynolds, who slumped to 15th overall.

2015

Schwerkolt moved on and formed his own team with a Walkinshaw Holden and Lee Holdsworth. Super Black Racing and a young Andre Heimgartner arrived, with the new named Prodrive full of promise with the arrival of the new FG X Falcon.

The team was the benchmark for much of the year, with Winterbottom and Mostert firming as title contenders. However, Reynolds — who was unwanted by the team by that stage — made his own case for the championship, winning in Darwin.

Mostert crashed in Bathurst qualifying and was out for the year, and Winterbottom managed just one podium in his last 11 starts.

A resurgent Triple Eight and Craig Lowndes threatened to steal the title from Winterbottom, but Reynolds still remained a force to be reckoned with.

Notably, Winterbottom and Reynolds traded places in Townsville, with the former taking both wins after Reynolds opted not to fight in the Saturday race.

As Winterbottom struggled and Lowndes crashed in New Zealand, Reynolds reeled off finished of third, first and fourth to be in the title fight with two rounds to go.

However, a highly-publicised incident with Shane van Gisbergen at Phillip Island saw Reynolds finish 25th, which all but killed his faint title hopes.

What has happened since?

Reynolds joined Erebus in 2016, which turned to gold a year later with a fairytale Bathurst win with Luke Youlden. He remained at Erebus until 2020, and joined the Kelly Grove — and later, Grove only — stable. A lean year in 2021 was followed by regular podium visits in 2022, before he finished his final year off in style with victory on the Gold Coast, his first since 2018.

Winterbottom remained at Tickford until 2018, going winless in his final two seasons after scoring victory in late 2016 at Pukekohe. He joined Team 18 and Schwerkolt in 2019, but would have to wait until 2023 to finally end his long wait for victory, winning at Hidden Valley.