South Australian teenager Todd Hazelwood will compete in the final round of this year’s Dunlop Series after winning the Shannons Supercar Showdown reality television contest.
The screening of the eighth and final episode on Saturday evening confirmed the 18-year-old Australian Formula 3 driver as the winner.
Hazelwood beat fellow F3 runner Tim Macrow in the final, which saw both drivers complete 10 lap spells in the Ford Performance Racing V8 Supercar that Chaz Mostert drove in last year’s Dunlop Series.
This year marked the third running of the Media Mix-produced program and the first in conjunction with FPR.
While previous seasons offered a co-driving slot in the Bathurst 1000, this year’s prize will see Hazelwood drive a Shannons-backed, Minda Motorsport-prepared, ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden in the Homebush Dunlop Series finale.
Hazelwood also receives a ‘testing contract’ with FPR that will see the former karter sample one of the team’s current-generation V8 Supercars.
“The competition in the show was really tight between everyone and after a long hard eight weeks, it was awesome to finish it all off with a win,” said Hazelwood after the finale.
“Both Shannons and Ford Performance Racing have given me a once in a lifetime opportunity, I can’t wait to test their cars and experience the V8 Supercars for the first time.”
The show’s earlier episodes had included Formula Ford competitors Macauley Jones, Chelsea Angelo, James Golding and Briton Daniel Cammish, as well as V8 Ute racer Craig Dontas and a second British driver, former ADAC Formula Masters campaigner Adrian Campfield.
Cameron Waters and Jesse Dixon took out the 2011 and 2012 Shannons Supercar Showdown prizes respectively.
