That’s the key message from GM Australia and NZ managing director Jess Bala and Chevrolet Racing general manager Chris Payne in the wake of Triple Eight’s surprise announcement it will defect to Ford.
Triple Eight’s impending return to the Blue Oval in 2026, announced late last month, shocked GM and cast significant doubt over its ongoing commitment to the category.
While GM and Triple Eight only reached a one-year deal for 2025, Bala affirmed that a deal signed with Supercars prior to the Ford bombshell also locks Chevrolet in for ’26.
“We are committed to Supercars. We’ve already signed agreements with Supercars for the following few years,” she said.
“We don’t want anyone to think that has wavered at all. We are very much committed and love being part of the sport.
“GM through many different lenses have been part of the Supercars and motorsport industry here in Australia for almost 70 years, so it’s critical to our business.”
Bala clarified that a further one-year extension is now being discussed in the wake of the Triple Eight bombshell.
“We’ve been working with Shane Howard and Tim [Edwards] and the team for some time on what that extension looks like,” she said.
“We have revisited that to put an extra year on the end of that as well, so we’re just firming up the exact timing.
“So we already were committed previously but have gone away and talked internally about extending that even further as well.”
Although the Camaro is out of production globally, Bala said she expects the current car to continue in Supercars through to the end of ’27 unless an alternate directive arrives from the United States.
“As far as we know right now, we’re expecting to see the Camaro body racing for the next couple of years,” she said.
“Unfortunately, we’re not privy to what Michigan and Detroit and what HQ is talking about as to what’s next.
“We know they are having those discussions overall but don’t have any detail we can share just yet.”
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