We’re back! After what seems like a lifetime between the conclusion of the 2017 season and now, the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship is set to go, with the first destination the Adelaide 500.
This weekend marks the first event as Mobil 1™ Boost Mobile Racing, but also as Walkinshaw Andretti United.
It’s been an exciting few months at our Clayton base, with the entire team eagerly anticipating getting the season underway.
This weekend also marks the first time we will race the new Holden ZB Commodore.
While the internals of the car, including the chassis design hasn’t changed, every panel is new. The team has only had one hit out with the new shape, at the Sydney Motorsport Park test day on February 16, and while there is still a lot of learning to be done, everyone is excited what it presents.
In terms of events, it’s one of the toughest on the calendar. It’s a weekend that puts everything under the microscope.
Cabin temperatures in excessive of 60 degrees is a common occurrence if the Adelaide heat kicks in, each race is 250 kilometres long, the track is known as a concrete jungle, and no one has raced a Supercar since the last weekend of November last year.
For James Courtney, the Adelaide Parklands Circuit has been a happy hunting ground in recent times. He has been on the top step of the podium three times in one of the races across the weekend. Fair to say he loves this place.
For Scott Pye, it’s a return to his hometown. Now with 12-months under his belt with the team, coming off a career-best championship finish, we are all looking forward to seeing what he can achieve.
The weekend consists of two 250km races, one on Saturday, one on Sunday.
All running will be done on the harder of the two compound tyres for the weekend, which in construction is very similar to what was used by the category in 2016.
Cars hit the track for the first time on Friday morning, 9:45am Adelaide time, in what is set to be a huge weekend.
James Courtney
“It’s fair to say I love this place, I look forward to it every year.
“As an event, it’s my favourite. Everything is new, it’s hot, the crowds are massive, and the track is awesome.
“It’s been a bigger summer for us all, and I’m itching to get back in the car and race. It’s what I love doing, so it’s been too long between Newcastle and now.
“Hopefully we can replicate some of the form in the past and get this year off to a good start, everyone has been working extremely hard over summer, so it would be nice to give them a reward.”
Scott Pye
“Adelaide is definitely one of my favourite events on the calendar, and I’m not just saying that because I grew up here.
“Last year for me was about getting to grips with the car as much as possible, so this year I’m a lot more settled and ready to go.
“We had a productive test day recently, got through the majority of what we wanted to get through, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting getting to Adelaide that’s for sure.
“It’s fast, the walls are as close as they get, and there is hardly a chance to take a breath around here, so I’m really looking forward to it.
“A huge thanks must go out to the guys for all their work over summer, it’s been a big effort to get it to this point, now it’s time to roll out and have some fun.”