As confirmed last week, the Supercheap Auto wildcard program fronted by Lowndes will shift from Triple Eight to Team 18 in 2026.
Team 18 is taking on the project alongside its elevation to GM homologation team status as part of the fallout of Triple Eight’s switch to the Blue Oval.
The GM team has confirmed to Speedcafe that it intends to field its second Gen3 chassis, T18-002, for Lowndes and his yet-to-be-named co-driver next year.
Like the remainder of Team 18’s current fleet, the car was built at the squad’s Melbourne headquarters from a chassis supplied by Triple Eight.
It was driven by Mark Winterbottom throughout the 2023 and ’24 seasons, scoring the team’s only race win to date at Hidden Valley in that maiden year of the Gen3 ruleset.
Currently a spare following the rollout of a new car for Winterbottom’s replacement Anton De Pasquale, T18-002 is being readied for December’s wind tunnel testing in the United States.
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“The car will be virtually a brand-new car, but it’ll also get its first gig going to the wind tunnel at the end of the year,” team owner Charlie Schwerkolt confirmed to Speedcafe.
“That’s the car we’ll use next year [for the wildcard], a fully built-up car, nothing wrong with it, fresh engine, exactly the same as our program.”
Team 18 was tasked with supplying a Camaro for the wind tunnel test, while Triple Eight and Walkinshaw Andretti United will represent Ford and Toyota respectively.
A cost-conscious decision by Supercars to sea freight the cars to the US has meant the teams will need to supply them by late September ahead of shipping.
The inclusion of the Mustang forced Triple Eight to change its initial track test plan, with its almost-complete first chassis now destined for the tunnel instead.
WAU’s first Toyota Supra is due to begin track running in the coming weeks, with the team understood to be working on a second chassis to send to the US.
Schwerkolt meanwhile said planning is underway for staffing the Team 18 wildcard, which as per recent years will appear in the enduros and at one sprint event with Lowndes’ co-driver aboard.
“It’s only for three weekends of course so it’ll be more ‘weekend warrior’ type of thing,” Schwerkolt said of a crew for the car.
“We’ll take a couple of people from the main game if we can, we’ll gear up for it and make it work and do it properly.”
Coincidentally, the Triple Eight Camaro that went to the Windshear wind tunnel in 2023 was due to be driven by Lowndes as the Supercheap wildcard in the 2024 endurance events.
However, a crash for Cooper Murray in his Hidden Valley wildcard appearance resulted in that chassis being parked. It now sits as a display piece in T8’s engineering office.
The Mustang that was used in the wind tunnel in 2023 was purchased by Ford from Dick Johnson Racing and remains in the United States.
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