Walkinshaw declared at the recent Townsville 500 that Walkinshaw Andretti United aims to get the prototype Supra on track “close to the end of August”.
Build of the prototype car in a sectioned-off area of the team’s Melbourne workshop is known to be well advanced but there has been little information on the state of the engine program.
Toyota confirmed at the launch of its Supercars project that the race motor will be based on its all-aluminium, quad-cam 2UR-GSE V8.
While the engine already competes in GT3 racing via Lexus, a bespoke Supercars version is necessary to fit the performance, durability and cost requirements of the category.
It’s understood two different versions of the engine are under development – one at Supercars’ engine shop in Brisbane and another offshore under the direction of its team principal Carl Faux.
Supercars’ motor is believed to have run on the category’s dyno for the first time in the wake of Townsville, allowing important mapping work to be done alongside local firm Motec.
WAU’s own project, meanwhile, involves UK-based specialist engine operation Swindon Powertrains, whose boss Raphaël Caillé was a notable guest of the team in Townsville.
Swindon’s extensive design, simulation and manufacturing capabilities stretch across various automotive and motorsport applications, including the British Touring Car Championship.
Frenchman Caillé and Brit Faux previously worked together in the BTCC with Triple Eight.
The former’s time at Triple Eight included a brief Supercars association – involved in the ill-fated V8 engine project run in conjunction with French firm Sodemo in 2004.
Swindon’s expertise includes the ability to produce high-end crankshafts in-house with relatively short lead times.
With the Toyota V8 engine package still coming together, the clock is ticking ahead of the Supra’s planned test debut.
Walkinshaw gave insight into the state of the Toyota project in an appearance on this week’s Rusty’s Garage podcast.
The Monaco-based team owner visited WAU’s Melbourne headquarters after Townsville to check-in on the prototype car.
“It’s coming along well. It’s very nearly ready to go,” Walkinshaw told host Greg Rust.
“It’s got a dummy engine in. Engines are still in the process of being developed, but we’re hoping to have the prototype hitting the track in the next four to six weeks, which is very, very exciting.”
Noting Faux is working with “a little sort of ‘skunk works’ team” of WAU crew on the Toyota, Walkinshaw said the program is on track despite delays.
“There have been a couple of delays as is always the case with these things, but fortunately we always put enough fat into the program to make sure that we manage to hit our timelines at the end,” he said.
“So, we’re very comfortable, everything’s moving pretty much on track and we’re really excited to actually get the car on track and start testing it.”
Supercars rules stipulate a total of six test days per year for homologation teams developing a new car – three at a circuit and three at a nominated airfield runway.
It’s thought Supercars will allow further running for pure on-track engine testing of the Toyota V8, where no chassis tuning will be allowed.
WAU is expected to deploy Warren Luff for the initial test program as part of its pledge to respect Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood’s current association with Ford.
Getting the car on track soon is important for analysis of both the body and engine ahead of post-season wind tunnel and AVL dyno homologation testing in the United States.
WAU will bring a variety of different bodywork options to the wind tunnel to ensure it can be matched to the Camaro and Mustang.
The race-spec Supra may end up looking significantly different to the clay model presented at the Bathurst 1000 last October, which took design cues from the FT-1 concept car.
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