Charlie revved up about Holden’s tilt
CHARLIE Schwerkolt believes the striking new ZB Commodores that will grace the 2018 Supercars grid can lift Holden to a season of dominance.
Though Red Bull Holden Racing Team star Jamie Whincup won the championship, Ford proved to be the leading manufacturer last year, winning 16 of the 26 races.
Gold Coast-based businessman Schwerkolt, whose Preston Hire Racing team CHARLIE SCHWERKOLT
have unveiled their impressive design for the coming season, hopes improvement will follow an initial learning curve.
While Holden will upgrade from VF Commodores to the ZB, Ford and Nissan have stuck with their existing models.
“The car is a fraction smaller than the current VF and I think it’s a bit pointier,” Schwerkolt said.
“I’m not sure of the results of the aero testing but from what I hear it is all very positive. It should bring the Holdens right up which is really exciting.”
Preston Hire Racing are coming off their best race result of fourth place at the Newcastle season finale in November.
With three-time race winner Lee Holdsworth at the wheel, the single car squad finished the year 16th in the overall standings.
Holdsworth will this season work directly with Stuart McDonald, who has been promoted to race engineer following Chris Stuckey’s defection to Nissan.
With an otherwise relatively stable crew, he is confident they can move even further up the pecking order and is a big fan of the fresh design.
“Love the look of the tough new livery, especially on the ZB Holden body,” Holdsworth said.
Other than selected wildcard entries, all cars will race with a V8 engine in the championship this year before a planned move for some teams to V6s in 2019.
FROM WHAT I HEAR IT IS ALL VERY POSITIVE. IT SHOULD BRING THE HOLDENS RIGHT UP WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING