Holden is committed to running a V8 Commodore in Supercars for the next two years, ruling out the prospect of a Camaro joining the series in the near future.
Holden’s decision to recommit sees the company set to continue in the sport until at least 2021, which is when the championship plans to roll out its Next Gen rules shift.
Supercars’ next technical platform is yet to be confirmed although the championship has hinted at possible changes to the control chassis, which could allow more models such as General Motors’ current hero car the Camaro.
Discussions have also included the use of hybrid technology.
Holden has previously nailed its colours to the Commodore model amid a study carried out by Walkinshaw Andretti United into developing a Camaro, which as been shelved for now until Supercars changes the control chassis.
The firm’s marketing boss, Kristian Aquilina, says its new Supercars deal is built around the V8 powered ZB Commodore continuing in the series until the end of 2021.
Holden’s last Supercars agreement included the development of a V6 turbo power plant that was last year abandoned in favour of continuing with the V8 engine.
“No question mark, Commodore is our contract car and the V8 that has been developed for it will continue on,” he stated when asked if the deal locks in the ZB Commodore for the next two years.
“From a marketing standpoint, that’s less important, the connection between the powertrain on the track and what’s happening on the road, being detached quite some time ago.”
Pressed about the possibility of a Camaro being an option for the future, he replied: “Talk about the sphere of influence, we’re only interested in the Commodore with the V8.
“That’s really what we’re here racing for and with. That’s our hardware, it’s what we’ve built our plans around.
“We talk to GM all the time and the only conversation we have is about Commodore.”
Aquilina admitted that Holden would assess the situation should Supercars undergo a significant rule change.
“Well if the rules do change in that timeframe, we’ll have to obviously assess those and respond to them,” he noted.
“We obviously need enough time to be able to do that too, so on that front, I think we’d need to have that discussion with Supercars and the team through our homologation partner as some of that becomes clearer, but we’ve certainly got no line of sight on that at the moment.”
Holden has been kept abreast of Supercars’ plans for the future which has been aided through the championship’s move to set up a manufacturers council, which hosted its first meeting in May.
The forum, populated by representatives from Holden and Ford, allows the marques insight into Supercars’ plans and offers a platform to share their views.
“Supercars have been very transparent to the extent that they can be,” added Aquilina.
“I mean, they have to maintain equity and fairness in the competition, a few things should be surprises, a few things should be open and transparent.
“The new OEM council has given us some insight into where their thinking is at and the future of the sport.
“It gives us also an opportunity to provide an input but we’re not necessarily the arbitrators or the determiners of what the future of the sport and how the category is and the cars look like, that’s up to the category.
“But it’s great to have a forum for which to express our views and also hear what they’ve got on their mind, so through that forum we’ve got, I think, a fairly good view of the future.
“There’s some uncertainty too, which is probably about the right level of uncertainty for a sport that has to be equitable.”
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