Tim Blanchard has revealed he plans to continue running the Ford Mustang in Supercars when Gen3 is introduced.
Blanchard has been among the vocal proponents frustrated by a supposed lack of communications surrounding the next-generation car.
Yesterday Supercars confirmed it would continue working with teams towards a 2022 introduction of Gen3.
The CoolDrive Racing boss hasn’t finalised plans for next year as he waits to see how developments surrounding the new car play out, but expects to stick with Ford.
“We need to see what the regulations are for next year but our intention is to stay with Ford,” Blanchard told Speedcafe.com at The Bend.
“We don’t have a formal agreement with Ford or any support but there’s no intention to change at this point.
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“We’re focused on doing our own thing as much as possible. We’re making our own decisions on what we think is the best package for what we’re trying to achieve and what we’re trying to achieve as a business. The Ford package is probably the best for that.”
Having previously operated his Racing Entitlements Contract out of the Brad Jones Racing stable, Blanchard went solo this year with the launch of the Blanchard Racing Team.
That saw a switch from the aging Holden ZB Commodore to a newer Ford Mustang.
In the midst of his first year running an independent one-car team in the Repco Supercars Championship, Blanchard said he’s already seen the benefit of being aligned with Ford.
“They’re a lot more actively involved with the sport,” Blanchard explained.
“When I first joined Supercars, Holden was very actively involved and interested in it. The last two or three years, I haven’t really heard or seen any support from GM.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air moving to the Ford side and actually having people show an interest and come down to the garage and talk to us and be supportive of what we’re trying to achieve.”
To date, the team has received technical support from Tickford Racing and has two cars in its cache built by the Campbellfield-based operation.
Blanchard hasn’t decided whether he will continue working with Tickford Racing.
“We obviously ended up in this position with Phil Munday’s support with Ford,” said Blanchard.
“We’ve been really welcomed by the Ford team. We’ve got a good relationship with Tickford to get us going. We’ll see how things play out.”
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