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WAU is locked in as Toyota’s factory team, set to undertake homologation duties for the Gen3 Supra and V8 engine that will debut in 2026.
Toyota Australia executive Sean Hanley declared the automotive giant wants “at least four cars” on the grid in 2026 and will pursue a second team.
It’s a different strategy to that employed by last decade’s new entrants Nissan, Mercedes-AMG and Volvo, which each entered and ran exclusively with one outfit.
“We’ll lock down with Walkinshaw first,” said Hanley. “That’s our priority, absolutely 100 percent, they’re quite advanced.
“But about mid-year next year, so somewhere around that timing, we’ll be looking for a second team that will work through Walkinshaw as the homologated team obviously.”
The prospect of joining the Toyota fold will no doubt be attractive to many teams, given there is minimal financial support locking them into Chevrolet or Ford.
Charlie Schwerkolt’s Team 18 appears to be in the box seat, with suggestions that a deal may already be in the works.
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Schwerkolt’s main business, Waverley Forklifts, is the biggest customer of Toyota’s local forklift division, Toyota Material Handling Australia.
The forklift division, which operates independently of Toyota Australia but is part of the global Toyota empire, has been a sponsor of Team 18 for over a decade.
That has included naming rights backing of the team’s Holden Commodores and more recently Chevrolet Camaros at selected events.
Toyota’s truck division, Hino, is also among Team 18’s sponsor group.
Team 18’s Melbourne location and nimble structure would also make it perfectly suited to being Toyota’s second squad.
Schwerkolt declined to comment when contacted by Speedcafe about Toyota’s entry to Supercars.
Team 18 is managed by former by Adrian Burgess, who joined the team in 2024 following a five-year stint as Supercars’ Head of Motorsport.
It recently announced the signing of driver Anton De Pasquale to replace Mark Winterbottom in its line-up on a multi-year deal.
