The Bargwanna name will return to Supercars competition when third-generation driver Jude makes his debut in the 2023 Kumho Tyres Australian V8 Touring Car Series with Anderson Motorsport.
The 18-year-old is the son of Scott, nephew of Bathurst 1000 winner Jason, and grandson of Alfie, the latter of whom has raced against team owner Michael Anderson.
Jude Bargwanna will drive the FG Falcon which Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters took to the 2015 Super2 Series title and then Brad Vaughan to the Super3 title last year with Anderson Motorsport.
This time around, it will be entered in the V8 Touring Car Series, which returns as a standalone competition to run with the Shannons SpeedSeries.
Bargwanna decided it was the preferred option to progress his Supercars ambitions after racing predominantly in Formula Ford, but also production cars (Bathurst 6 Hour) and S5000.
“I’d been looking at the whole Supercar pathway for the last year or so,” the 18-year-old told Speedcafe.com.
“We were looking to make a jump from Formula Ford, but into something where we were going to learn valuable laps in a Supercar, and refine my skill a little bit more before we go to Super3 or Super2.
“We’ve known Michael through my grandfather – they raced against each other back in the day – and Michael got in contact with myself at the start of this year to put together a programme for this V8 Touring Car Series.”
Anderson explained to Speedcafe.com, “We’re going to run him in V8 Touring Car, mainly because, for a young bloke being in a Supercar for the first time, coming to a place like Newcastle’s just going to be a daunting thing; Newcastle, Adelaide, [and] Townsville are all places that are high-risk.
“We’ve shown that our FG is still fast enough to be in the top 10 in Super2 but now with the Mustang and the ZB, all you’re going to be doing in that mid-pack is you’re fighting and you’re looking in your mirrors too much; you’re not working on your racecraft enough.
“In the V8 Touring Car Series, they’ll be racing at the front, so it gives him a lot more driving laps and he’ll learn a lot more out of that season.”
Nevertheless, the goal is to win the title.
“We’ve got the only car to ever win Super2 and Super3, so we know the car’s definitely quick enough; we’ve proven that over a number of years now,” declared Anderson.
“Now we just want to get Jude up to speed as quick as we can and then we want to be fighting for the championship; that’s what we’re there to do.”
Bargwanna remarked, “I know the car has a rich history, it’s a proven race winner, and I’m excited and determined to add to those stats.
“The main goal is to win the series, which both myself and the team at Anderson Motorsport are really determined to do, and continue that history of the car.”
The Bathurst-based team can boast giving Jayden Ojeda and Declan Fraser their starts in Supercars, in Super3 in 2019 and 2020 respectively, with the latter now about to embark on a rookie campaign in the Repco Supercars Championship with Tickford after winning last year’s Super2 title with Triple Eight Race Engineering.
The 2023 Super2 Series starts next Friday at the Thrifty Newcastle 500, while Round 1 of the V8 Touring Car Series takes place on May 12-14 at Phillip Island.
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