Blanchard Racing Team has become the first Supercars squad to have its Gen3 car on track, with its Ford Mustang taking part in a shakedown outing at Winton today.
Hitting the track for the first time this morning, the Melbourne-based squad has become the first race team to run its car after a protracted development and build process.
It comes after homologation teams, Dick Johnson Racing and Triple Eight, abandoned plans to take to Queensland Raceway on Monday due to parts supply issues.
Those issues have seen Supercars scrap testing plans with teams instead given approval to complete their programmes as cars came online.
For most of the southern-based teams that remains a week away, with Erebus CEO Barry Ryan admitting his squad is hoping to be on track on February 8. Brad Jones Racing has tentatively locked in February 7 or 8.
It’s a similar story for those in Queensland, with next Tuesday earmarked by DJR and Matt Stone Racing.
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With 2023 Supercars season little more than five weeks away the pressure on teams remains high.
However, former Triple Eight owner Roland Dane has suggested the delays to this point are not a big deal.
“First and foremost, any race team worth its salt is used to having to work with their respective backs against the wall,” he wrote in his latest column for Speedcafe.com.
“It might not be ideal, it might not be what everyone would plan to do, but it’s a part of racing.
“Every team that’s been around for any length of time has had to build and/or repair cars in unrealistic timeframes in the past – whether that’s at the start of a season or during the year as a result of damage.
“I don’t see any team currently racing in the Supercars main series that isn’t capable of that, and most have proven their ability to get the job done many times.”
At Winton, BRT was on track for the first time at 10:07 local time, with team owner Tim Blanchard taking the wheel for the car’s maiden run.
New recruit Todd Hazelwood is also on hand to work through the day’s programme, with Supercars’ technical boss Adrian Burgess an interested observer.
Images courtesy of Ross Gibb & Daniel Kalisz
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