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The DeWalt Camaro will swap its usual #18 for #100, in a nod to the tool brand’s centenary this year.
“I’m really proud to run the #100 for the season-opener at Bathurst,” said Winterbottom.
“It’s obviously a very special occasion for DeWalt. 100 years is a great achievement and DeWalt has supported me now for quite a few years.
“They produce a great product and they only put their name to other great products and I hope that I can deliver on track and do them proud because 100 years is special and for me to represent them and run it is a proud moment.
“Bring on Bathurst, we’re looking for results and hopefully this DeWalt car with 100 on it brings me luck and we get the result.
“I can’t wait to get out there. Testing went well, but it’s also the unknown because you go into Bathurst, it’s always ‘have we done enough?’, ‘where are we at?’, ‘what are our competitors doing?’
“We don’t know until we hit the track, so there’s a bit of nerves. Even after all these years you still get nervous, but we’re in good shape.
“I think we’ve done a great job, we’ve recruited really well, we’ve prepared really well. So we’ll find out when we hit the track. Are we good enough? Time will tell.”
Winterbottom has a new race engineer for 2024 in Som Sharma, while team-mate David Reynolds will have something of a reunion with Richard Hollway.
There is also change at the top with this weekend’s event being Adrian Burgess’ first as Team 18 Team Principal and Dr Geoff Slater’s first as its Technical Director.
Reynolds, who will drive the #20 Tradie Beer Camaro after his off-season move from Grove Racing, is backing up after finishing eighth as a factory Mercedes-AMG driver in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
“I’m so excited,” said the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner.
“I can’t wait to get to Bathurst and see everyone and how the team operate on a race weekend and how we perform, how the car performs and try win and be up the front and feel good about life.
“Coming off the 12 Hour and bouncing back a week after, you’ve got to look after yourself, so I’ve been eating well, drinking a lot of water, massaging, physiotherapy and just try and rest and recover and then we’ll turn up on Friday ready to hit it out of the park.”
