Team 18 starts Gen3 Supercars shakedown

Team 18 has started the shakedown of its two Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro Supercars at Winton, following an unfortunate mishap on the previous day.

The first day of running for the #18 Mark Winterbottom and #20 Scott Pye entries was held over after an issue with the steering wheels for both cars.

A Team 18 spokesperson has confirmed to Speedcafe.com that both have now hit the track, just after 09:45 local time/AEDT, during a Test & Tune day at the rural Victorian circuit.

While an unusual circumstance, it is a milestone for Supercars, with all 25 cars which will line up on the grid for the season-opener in Newcastle next month now having turned wheels on a race track.

This just happened. T18-001 and T18-002 roll out of pit lane for the first time for their shakedown at Winton Motor Raceway #repcosc #team18 pic.twitter.com/ujzzAU3LLH

— Team 18 (@Team18supercars) February 16, 2023

Sunshine State-based teams Dick Johnson Racing, PremiAir Racing, and Matt Stone Racing each completed their second shakedown at Queensland Raceway yesterday.

They too had to delay that activity, by two days, although the reason was weather-related rather than technical gremlins on that occasion.

After today, the next running will be the all-in, category-organised test at Sydney Motorsport Park on Wednesday (February 22).

For cars which have not officially had a test day yet, noting the first day of running is classified as a shakedown, testing will then resume from Monday, February 27 at Queensland Raceway.