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HOLDEN cars are likely to be racing at circuits around Australia and New Zealand for a few more years but from the last race for 2020 at Bathurst this month, there is no more official factory support from the Holden brand and no Holden Racing Team banners.

The end of Holden’s 52 years of official backing on the track came with some tears, wiped clean after a Holden Commodore driven by Holden Red Bull team’s Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander won the event.

Triple Eight Race Engineering will campaign Commodores under its own team flag next year and, for the 2022 season, will race the Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro enters the series under new regulations contained within the Gen3 vehicle formula.

Triple Eight will design the Camaro to race spec with the endorsement of General Motors and the new Australian GM distributor, GMSV.

It does not give exclusive rights to Triple Eight as other teams can run Camaros, either purchased complete from Triple Eight or using the design and engineering technology to build their own cars.

In a statement, Triple Eight managing director Roland Dane said he had a long relationship with GM in motorsport that included the British Touring Car Championship series.

“We’re very pleased that GM has entrusted development of the Gen3 Camaro to Triple Eight for this exciting new era of Supercars racing. The Camaro looks fantastic as a road car and there’s no doubt that it will make a spectacular, aggressive racecar. Preparations for the introduction of Gen3 regulations are well under way,” he told Supercars website.

GM president and former Holden president Mark Reuss said his company was ‘thrilled” to continue involvement in Supercars.

“Chevy Camaro will be an exciting addition to the track, and we have every confidence Triple Eight will ensure the race-going version will be a faithful representation of the road-going Camaro ZL1’s DNA,” he said.

Supercars Championship CEO Sean Seamer said the Camaro will play a key role in the development of a new generation of racecars “so when it hits the track, it’s sure to excite not only our younger fans, but importantly, all those who remember the nameplate’s rich history in the sport.”

Meanwhile, Ford has cleaned up in this year’s Supercars series winning the championship with its Mustangs, claiming the all-important bragging rights of pole position for the 2020 Bathurst 1000 and coming second (by less than a second) in this year’s race at Mount Panorama.

The Ford Performance Mustang Supercars finished first and second in the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, with Scott McLaughlin officially crowned champion for Shell V-Power Racing and Cam Waters runner-up for Tickford Racing

Cam Waters claimed his first Bathurst Armor All pole position, with McLaughlin starting alongside for a Ford Performance Mustang front-row lockout.

Waters and Tickford co-driver Will Davison drove to a strong Bathurst 1000 second place, the fastest finishing Mustang to record Waters’ first podium at The Great Race. The Shell V-Power Racing Mustangs finished fourth and fifth to secure a second consecutive Teams Championship, capping a strong year for Mustang teams with Ford claiming the Supercars Manufacturer’s Title for the second year in row.

By Neil Dowling

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