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Walkinshaw Andretti United is currently in negotiations about the potential of bringing a new manufacturer into Supercars for 2022.
Team co-owner, Ryan Walkinshaw made the revelation after admitting discussions surrounding 2021 collapsed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve now got new negotiations ongoing with a couple of new manufacturers,” Walkinshaw told the Loud Pedal podcast.
“It’s very early stages, but I’m pretty encouraged by the positive signs we have, but that would be more of a 2022 programme, at the earliest.”
The Scotsman wouldn’t be drawn on who he was in discussions with, stating they were covered by non-disclosure agreements.
Walkinshaw’s outfit was previously the factory Holden Racing Team, while sister-operation Andretti Autosport has close ties with BMW.
Under the TWR banner, the Walkinshaw operation has also represented Jaguar, winning Le Mans in 1989 and Bathurst in 1985 with the marque.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, we actually had two manufacturers competing with each other for our team to become the new factory team for 2021,” Walkinshaw said.
“Sadly with the impact of COVID-19 both of this negotiations collapsed, which is really disappointing.
“One of them we were at contract stage.
“If you’d asked me February, I was pretty confident we weren’t going to be running Commodores in 2021, but sadly with what’s been going on in the world, that opportunity has disappeared.
“One had never raced in Australia before, one of which had.
“I was pretty excited about getting those guys back into Australian motorsport, but sadly it wasn’t to be.”
Walkinshaw had flagged the possibility of running a Chevrolet Camaro body style, though only if regulations changed to accommodate the low slung design.
“One of the things we are trying to achieve is a lower roll hoop, which, at the moment, I think we’re going to be about 100mm lower,” he said at the time.
