Toyota announced in September that it will enter the category with Walkinshaw Andretti United as its homologation team, pledging a five-year Supercars commitment with “at least four cars”.
Although some believe Team 18 is already locked in to be the much-discussed second team, the car maker is adamant that discussions with others won’t start until mid-2025.
Talk of there being three Toyota teams has coincided with Grove Racing being linked to a potential switch from Ford.
Those rumours come in the wake of a Gold Coast 500 in which the squad angered the Blue Oval by protesting Tickford Racing and Dick Johnson Racing after the Saturday race.
The fact the team did not protest the Toyota-bound WAU, which was later found to be in breach of the same pit stop rules as Tickford and DJR, added fuel to the fire.
There was, however, a somewhat logical explanation for that, as Grove had more to gain by protesting Tickford (which finished 1-2 in the race) and DJR (which it is battling for fourth in the teams’ championship).
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Tackled on the Toyota topic by Speedcafe, Grove team principal David Cauchi says the squad will do whatever it deems best for its competitive prospects.
“First and foremost, I think it’s fantastic that Toyota has made the decision to join Supercars and well done to Walkinshaw on bringing them into the Supercars family,” Cauchi told Speedcafe.
“I think it’s a great thing for the sport and really exciting for 2026 to see them on the grid.
“In terms of Grove Racing, we’ll always make the right decision for us, to put ourselves in the best position to win races and championships.
“We’ve always said that’s what we’ve come into the sport to do, and we’ll always try and make the best decisions to make sure we can achieve that.
“It’s always something that will be considered at some point.”
Cauchi, though, denied that any talks with Toyota have already taken place.
“I don’t know what the process is or isn’t going to be, so there’s nothing really to say there,” he added.
“They’re joining the sport, it’s most likely they’ll be looking for one or two more teams, which is great, but who that’s going to be and how they’re going to make that decision, I don’t really know.”
Ford’s apparent frustration with Grove Racing over the Gold Coast protest followed tension between the Blue Oval and the team around pre-Bathurst engine trouble.
A crisis meeting took place following the Sandown 500 that involved representatives from each of the Ford teams and company heavies including global Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook.
There Stephen Grove is understood to have raised the prospect of bolting Chevrolet engines into his cars for Bathurst – a move that would neither be allowed under the rules, nor pleasing to Ford.
Grove Racing runs Ford Mustangs as a legacy of its lineage as Kelly Racing.
The Melbourne-based team moved to Ford in 2020 following a seven-year spell running Nissan Altimas – a factory deal it took after starting life in 2009 with Holden Commodores.
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