What's new in 2023: Chevrolet Camaro
The new Chevrolet Camaro will make its Supercars debut this season, reviving a rivalry last seen in the 1970s.
The Camaro replaces the Holden Commodore as General Motors’ weapon of choice in Supercars.
There will be 14 Camaros on the 2023 grid, with Walkinshaw Andretti United taking Ford’s charge to 11.
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The Camaro is no stranger to Australian motorsport, the nameplate winning two titles in the early 1970s with Bob Jane.
However, the new car is a different beast in 2023, and it faces an all-new challenge in a highly competitive era.
How it happened
The famous Commodore nameplate and iconic Holden brand ceased in 2020, but raced on in Supercars until 2022.
Come 2023, and the Camaro will become the second two-door car on the grid against the new-gen Mustang.
The Gen3 regulations were originally unveiled in late 2020 and slated for 2022, with the Camaro locked in to replace the Commodore.
After a COVID-19-affected 2021, the Gen3 regulations were delayed to 2023.
The Gen3 prototypes were unveiled at the end of 2021, thus edging Supercars closer to the new era.
The Gen3 Camaro prototype, January 2022
Key to the Camaro’s unveiling was GM’s launching of Chevrolet Racing in Australia and New Zealand.
Chevrolet Racing effectively takes over from Holden Motorsport, and is GM’s motorsport arm Down Under.
Triple Eight, GM’s official homologation team, designed the new Gen3 Camaro with Supercars, as it did the ZB Commodore.
The striking new Camaro and Mustang were paraded at circuits around Australia, and the forthcoming livery reveal season will be one to watch.
How will it fare?
Both prototypes have been subject to rigorous testing since they were unveiled in late 2021.
From street tracks to air strips, the prototypes have clocked up over 6000km each.
Both cars have different capacity engines, and both largely resemble their roadgoing counterparts.
Recent testing — headlined by a VCAT last November — has also seen Supercars zero in on aerodynamic parity.
Come Newcastle, and it will come down to drivers and teams following a number of tests in February.
As far as history goes, the last new GM Supercars — the VE, VF and ZB Commodores — all won their debut races in 2007, 2013 and 2018 respectively.
New Fords also have a strong record of winning the title on debut — the BA (2003), FG (2009), FG X (2015) and Mustang (2019) all won titles in their first seasons.
Both brands will be out for bragging rights when the Gen3 era commences in Newcastle in March.
Overall performance, however, may be masked at the stop-start street challenge of Newcastle.
Newcastle will be as bruising as any proving ground, however, given its close walls, high-speed sections and big braking zones.
There will be 14 Camaros in 2023
Given all teams will be racing brand new — and vastly different cars — development as the season wears on will prove crucial.
As recently as 2018, Triple Eight came out of the blocks firing with the new ZB, but battled with consistency before Scott McLaughlin went on the win the title.
Still, all major Holden teams — Triple Eight, Erebus Motorsport, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Garry Rogers Motorsport and Brad Jones Racing — scored at least one podium during the first two events of the year.
The Mustang was imperious in 2019 and 2020, before Triple Eight — and WAU, at times — found a real sweet spot with the ZB in 2021 and 2022.
With two cars lining up in Newcastle, it’s anyone’s guess which brand will take early honours.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle on March 10-12.
Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
