Walkinshaw Racing

For Tom Walkinshaw's extinct sportscar/touring car racing team, see Tom Walkinshaw Racing. For the parent operation of this and other Walkinshaw teams, see Walkinshaw Performance.
Walkinshaw Racing
Manufacturer Holden
Team Principal Ryan Walkinshaw
Team Manager Adrian Burgess
Race Drivers 47 Tim Slade
Chassis Holden VF Commodore
Debut 2009
Drivers' Championships 0
Round wins 0
Pole positions 0
2015 position 13th (1,764 points)

Walkinshaw Racing was one of two Australian motor racing teams operated by Walkinshaw Performance. It last raced a Holden VF Commodore in the V8 Supercars Championship with Tim Slade as the team's driver. The team folded after the 2015 season.

Formation

Walkinshaw Racing was formed in 2009 ostensibly to replace the HSV Dealer Team after John and Margaret Kelly took their Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECs) to form Kelly Racing. Paul Dumbrell moved across from HSVDT for the inaugural 2009 season with financial support from Autobarn chain of automotive product retail outlets.[1] Rookie David Reynolds joined as the second driver for the new team, with sponsorship from Bundaberg Red Rum.[2][3] The team purchased one REC from the defunct Paul Weel Racing and reactivated a REC acquired from V8 Supercars Australia that had last been used by Romano Racing.

Team structure

Tom Walkinshaw was team principal, and Rob Crawford has been carried over from the former HSV Dealer Team, continuing in the role of team manager.[4] After Walkinshaw's death, son Ryan was named team principal. Richard Hollway was the engineer for the teams lead #10 car with Jason Bush running the second #24 car. In June 2011 it was announced that Mike Henry is to take over from the departed Rob Crawford.

Racing history

The newly formed team made its racing debut at the Clipsal 500 in March 2009. In Race One, Reynolds finished 13th, whilst Dumbrell finished 17th, after running much higher in the early stages.[5] Dumbrell again finished 17th in Race Two, whilst Reynolds failed to finish.[6] Dumbrell finished 15th in the championship at seasons end with several top six finishes while Reynolds finished 22nd, showing pace and promise but no real results. Whilst stablemates Holden Racing Team won the teams prize, tenth was a disappointing teams result for Walkinshaw Racing.

The 2010 season saw Bundaberg Red expand its sponsrship to both of the Walkinshaw Racing cars. Fabian Coulthard and Andrew Thompson were signed to replace both 2009 drivers.[7][8] The 2010 season was disappointing for the team as both drivers have struggled for results with the Walkinshaw prepared cars, an issue that even the Holden Racing Team have not been immune from. Coulthard finished a disappointing 24th, with Thompson even more disappointing in 30th. In 2011 the team downsized to a single car for Coulthard with continued support from Bundaberg Rum, the race number was changed to #61.

In 2012, Coulthard was replaced by Russell Ingall who brought Supercheap Auto sponsorship, the race number was also changed once again #66. Ingall and Supercheap Auto remained with the team in 2013. In 2014 Ingall was replaced by Tim Slade and the car entered as #47.[9] The same relationship was maintained for 2015.

Demise

For 2016, it was announced that the Walkinshaw operation would downsize to two cars, the two Holden Racing Team entries. The Walkinshaw Racing REC was sold to Super Black Racing.

The Holden VE Commodore of Fabian Coulthard at the 2011 Clipsal 500.
The Holden VE Commodore of Russell Ingall at the 2012 Clipsal 500.
The Holden VF Commodore of Tim Slade at the 2014 Sydney Motorsport Park 400.
The Holden VF Commodore of Tim Slade at the 2015 Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Dumbrell V8 Supercars Profile". V8 Supercars Australia. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  2. ↑ "New driver for Walkinshaw Racing". Sportal. 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  3. ↑ "David Reynolds V8 Supercars Profile". V8 Supercars Australia. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  4. ↑ "Walkinshaw Racing V8 Supercars Profile". V8 Supercars Australia. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  5. ↑ "2009 Clipsal 500 - Race One Results". Natsoft. 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  6. ↑ "2009 Clipsal 500 - Race Two Results". Natsoft. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  7. ↑ Musolino, Adrian (2009-10-27). "Coulthard heading to Walkinshaw". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  8. ↑ Gunther, Briar (2009-12-11). "Bundy expands to two cars". Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  9. ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (18 September 2013). "Walkinshaw Racing confirms Slade for 2014". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
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