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Walkinshaw (WAU) Team Switch to FORD !

Stevefreestyle

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After the curious recent Grove Ford engine Tech Support deal - it seems Walkenshaw (Former Factory Holden Racing Team) are switching to Ford from the 2023 Gen3 ! This will apparently be officially announced by Ford on Friday morning.

"The motorsport industry is a buzz with speculation that legendary Supercars squad Walkinshaw Andretti United is set for a switch to Ford Mustangs for 2023 with the move to the new Gen3 regulations.

With Ford Performance confirming a big announcement on Friday morning, indications are that Ford will announce the WAU move to Ford and will run the new Gen3 Mustang.

Speculation has been circulating for some time that a current Holden team could be making the change to Ford in coming months and it appears as though that will be WAU.

Walkinshaw, is name that has been associated heavily with Holden, racing as the sole factory Holden Racing Team for three decades, however it will change allegiance to Ford at the end of the year.

The move comes as the Supercars Championship transitions into the Gen3 era, which will see all current race cars become redundant and therefore if a move was to be made, this would be the time to do it.

As a side note to this, Grove Racing has made the move to have its Ford engines prepared by Walkinshaw Performance. While this may be delivering Walkinshaw some experience with a Ford engine, the new Gen3 engine program will see a completely new power plant architecture, with a change to the Coyote engine and apparent sole control engine supplier.

Currently two manufacturers have committed to the Gen3 era, Ford with the Mustang and Chevrolet with the Camaro.

Unlike many of the current Holden teams, Walkinshaw Andretti United has never publicly committed to move across to the Chevrolet brand and run the Camaro.

As reported by AUTO ACTION last year WAU was in conversations with Jaguar, however the COVID-19 pandemic saw the deal fall through despite the two parties previously winning the Bathurst 1000 together in 1985.

Holden and Walkinshaw Performance, then as the Holden Racing Team have an even more rich history together winning six V8 Supercar Championships and seven Bathurst 1000s."


WAU FORD MOVE EXPECTED - Auto Action
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Not sure how I feel about this, mostly due to Chaz Mostert. I am enjoying seeing he and fellow Tickford deserter Mark Winterbottom doing no better at their respective new GM Holden teams, considerably worse off in Winterbotton’s case.

Perhaps I am being a bit too bitter and twisted :-)

I suppose if Mostert (and Nick Percat) do some winning, then all can be forgiven!

I hope WAU don’t get Ford support at the expense of a Penrite Racing. I think the Grove’s have what it takes to make a success of that team.

I can’t imagine GMSV having too much cash to splash on teams other than Triple Eight, considering the minuscule market share they have.
 

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I think the Grove’s have what it takes to make a success of that team.
Certainly seems to be working well for Reynolds, he still has McVean as his engineer but I wonder how much is due to Cauchi being there. Interesting that both Cauchi and McPherson jumped from 888, all too possibly due to boredom and needing a challenge. Given Cauchi's body language after Whincup blocked Van Gisbergen and let Will Brown get away last year I half think he didn't want to be there for Whincup's ascendancy to Team Principal noting that Whincup has done some pretty dumb stuff from time to time.

I feel for Percat, the WAU move hasn't been in his favour at all and I reckon he'd have been over the moon to be at the spiritual home of Holden racing. But you pays yer money and takes yer chances.

Have to wonder about why WAU have fallen in a heap. Their showing at Wanneroo was appalling.
 

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David Cauchi would have to be worth his weight in front uprights! There would have to be quite a few Triple Eight ‘secrets’ that have come with him. Although some of those may be wiped out next year when all the teams virtually start from scratch with Gen 3 cars.

Maybe Cauchi and MacPherson wanted a change from hot and humid Queensland melanoma weather! I’m sure they had their rea$on$.

I think it’s too early to judge Nick Percat. Drivers are only as good as their engineers, although Geoff Slater seems well regarded.

WAU’s Wanneroo performance was surprising, but it is a quirky track so it might be a one-off. Look how well Jake Kostecki went! Maybe he was keen to do well in front of his home crowd, his cousin maybe a little too keen!
 
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I’m sure they had their rea$on$.
😆



Percat can pedal it for sure, current form suggests it's not lack of talent which is letting him down.


his cousin may be a little too keen!
If BK gets it together and keeps it there the rest of the field including SVG might get a wake-up call. That move on Whincup at Bathurst and a few like it since lead me to believe he's formidable.
 

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Stevefreestyle

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Confirmed - Speculation is over!

It seems Andretti is also very keen to re-establish his old links with Ford.

"WAU’s sensational move to Ford confirmed"

"Walkinshaw Andretti United will be a Ford team from the 2023 Supercars season, both parties have confirmed.

As first reported by Speedcafe.com, the long-time factory Holden Racing Team will field Mustangs when the Gen3 era of the Repco Supercars Championship begins.

The announcement was made this morning and involved not only Walkinshaw Andretti United’s three directors and its team principal Bruce Stewart, but also the Blue Oval’s heavy hitters both in Australia and the United States, including Ford president/CEO Jim Farley.

It brings to a close a chapter which began in the late 1980s as the Holden Racing Team, albeit contracted out to Perkins Engineering for a brief period, then became HSV Racing in 2017, and morphed into WAU in 2018.

For Chaz Mostert, however, it is a return to the Blue Oval fold after his years at Tickford Racing and a loan spell at Dick Johnson Racing, while Nick Percat will race a Ford for the first time.

WAU was naturally keen to emphasise that it has manufacturer support for the first time since 2016, when Holden moved factory team status to Triple Eight Race Engineering, but Ryan Walkinshaw also paid tribute to his family’s and the squad’s history with the Lion.

“Today marks a new era for Walkinshaw Andretti United, one we are extremely excited about,” said Walkinshaw.

“For over three decades, we have gone head-to-head in competition with Ford, but joining forces with them for Gen3 was the clear direction forward.

“We are extremely proud of our history with Holden over such a long period of time, that is something we will always be grateful for.

“We will wear the Holden badge with pride right up until their final race in Supercars at the end of 2022.

“But now it’s time for change, it’s time for a new chapter.

“Walkinshaw Andretti United is a business with three international branches, and all three share history with Ford, my mum even met my dad while he was racing a Ford Capri in the British Touring Car Championship.

“To have manufacturer support once again is essential for our race team and the goals we have, and we thank Ford for their trust in us.

“For now, our short-term focus remains on 2022, continuing what we’ve started, and finishing our current chapter on a high.”

Fellow director Michael Andretti has a similar take.

“It’s an exciting day for us at Walkinshaw Andretti United, announcing our partnership with Ford to race the Mustang GT in 2023 and beyond,” he remarked.

“We share a great history with Ford, the brand that powered me through my IndyCar career in 1992, and from 1994 through until 2000, there are clear links right throughout our entire organisation.

“To be a manufacturer supported team for the first time since Walkinshaw Andretti United was born, gives us the best opportunity to achieve our goals.

“The team’s history won’t be forgotten, but we are excited for what the next chapter brings. First though, our focus remains on 2022, and finishing the best possible way.”

Zak Brown, the director from the ‘United’ party in WAU, said linking with Ford was a “clear direction forward”.

“It’s an historic day for Walkinshaw Andretti United, to be aligning with Ford in the Supercars Championship marks a new era for our team,” observed Brown.

“Ford’s support of Supercars is unquestionable, and it’s fantastic for us to have manufacturer support for the first time since Michael and I have been involved.

“It wasn’t a decision we made lightly, but it was the clear direction forward. Thank you to the entire Ford team, both in Australia and globally.

“We are here to win, and we believe our partnership with Ford gives puts us in the best position to do that as we head into a new era of Supercars in 2023.

“The team shares some incredible history with Holden, none of which will ever be forgotten, and we are all looking forward to finishing their time in Supercars on a high this year.”

As Walkinshaw himself alluded to, WAU will continue to campaign ZB Commodores for the remainder of Gen2, a technical era during which it won the Bathurst 1000 just last year with the driver pairing of Mostert/Lee Holdsworth."


WAU’s sensational move to Ford confirmed - Speedcafe

By Daniel Herrero Friday 6th May, 2022 - 2:00pm
 
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Stevefreestyle

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David Cauchi would have to be worth his weight in front uprights! There would have to be quite a few Triple Eight ‘secrets’ that have come with him. Although some of those may be wiped out next year when all the teams virtually start from scratch with Gen 3 cars.

Maybe Cauchi and MacPherson wanted a change from hot and humid Queensland melanoma weather! I’m sure they had their rea$on$.
You mean Cauchi would be worth his weight in MacPherson Struts don't you (lol)
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