Red Bull Supercar is on ZB
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team (aka Triple Eight) has revealed its 2018 Supercar contender, which will hit the track at Adelaide on the first weekend of March.
The new car wears the body shape from Holden’s forthcoming European-sourced ZB Commodore five-door, although underneath it’s still based on the ‘‘Next Gen’’ (2013) architecture shared by all current Supercar racers and powered by a V8 engine.
Rule changes to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship now allow different body styles (as long as they are from four-seat cars sold in Australia) and new engines.
There’s a new V6 turbo engine on the way for the Commodore Supercar, which will make it more identifiable with the production car; expect to see it as a ‘‘wild card’’ entry at some events this year (including Bathurst) and powering all ZB-generation racers for 2019.
The 2018 model was unveiled by drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen on Sydney Harbour. A production ZB Commodore VXR was displayed alongside the Red Bull racer.
The Supercar has a new livery designed by Holden’s Peter Hughes, with a dark blue front fading to white at the rear.
Given that the 2018 car hasn’t changed fundamentally underneath, the biggest news is really the aerodynamic package that’s been developed for the new shape.