Holden Motorsport has announced it will suspend development of the V6 twin-turbo engine it was planning to introduce into the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.
Working with Triple Eight, it had been suggested in some corners that the engine could debut as early as Sydney, ahead of another planned wildcard berth at Bathurst later in the year.
However, that will now no longer be the case as Holden Motorsport’s announcement states that, while committed to the series, it will put further development of the engine on ‘hold’.
“After working closely with all Holden teams we have decided to put a hold on the development of the V6 Supercars engine,”said Holden Motorsport Executive Director Mark Harland.
“We are 100 percent committed to motorsport and our sponsorship of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team and supporting all Holden teams in both the Supercars and SuperUte paddock.
“This is thanks to the monumental effort Holden and Triple Eight have put into engineering and developing the Holden Supercar and we remain committed to that advancement of motorsport engineering in what is one of the most technically advanced motorsport categories in the world.”
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Triple Eight team boss Roland Dane added, “We at Triple Eight are extremely proud of and grateful for the hard work and effort put in by all those involved in the development of the V6TT engine thus far.
“We’re very confident that the package would have been fully competitive and know that we have an extremely valuable bank of knowledge to refer to as and when a different engine platform is explored again in the future.
“For now we can turn our focus solely onto ensuring that the all-new 2018 Commodore is a race-winner for not just Triple Eight, but for our valued customers, partners and fans as well.
The Holden V6 twin-turbo was the only engine configuration outside of the existing V8 platform under development by any manufacturer.
The impact means Holden teams will continue running the eight-cylinder engine for the time being, maintaining the category’s status quo.
“Our current rules allow manufacturers and teams to implement various configurations of power plants,”said Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.
“So, while the ZB won’t have a turbo engine configuration at the moment, it’s important that we, as a category, continue to build our learnings and expertise on forced induction.
“We look forward to continuing our great relationship with both Holden and the Teams, irrespective of what engine they choose to run.”
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