David Reynolds will drive for the newly-named Kelly Grove Racing this season after leaving Erebus at the end of last year.
The Bathurst winner will switch to a Ford Mustang for the first time and drive the number 26 car, with Erebus’ former sponsor Penrite following him to the team formerly known as Kelly Racing.
He will team up with young gun Andre Heimgartner as Kelly Grove Racing released the first images of its new livery for the upcoming season.
Reynolds’ former engineer Alistair McVean is also reuniting with him at his new team as the team prepares for round one of the Supercars championship at Bathurst.
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Coulthard to lead Team Sydney
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“I’m unbelievably happy to be joining Kelly Grove Racing for the 2021 season and beyond,” Reynolds said. “It’s obviously a very exciting time for the team with the recent investment from the Grove Group and I believe the team has the resources and firepower to achieve great things this year and continue building on some of the success we saw last year.”
“I think we’re on the cusp of something really awesome at Kelly Grove Racing, the infrastructure and culture that’s in place has already really impressed me and I’m excited for the 2021 season. I’m also looking forward to working with André as his teammate, we’ll definitely push each other and hopefully get the two Mustangs up the pointy end.
“It’s awesome for me to have a few familiar faces also join the team with Alistair to engineer my side of the garage and obviously Penrite continuing to back my car which is awesome. Penrite have been a big supporter of mine over the years, they’re family to me so I’m looking forward to continuing that great relationship.”
Shane van Gisbergen has undergone successful surgery on a collarbone injury sustained in a mountain biking accident.
Van Gisbergen, who won both races of the 2021 season opener in Bathurst last week, suffered the accident on Saturday morning.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver had a plate inserted during the routine procedure in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon.
It marks an unfortunate blow to the Kiwi’s title charge, with van Gisbergen slated to return for the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint in a fortnight.
Van Gisbergen completes Bathurst double
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Van Gisbergen will not carry out driving duties for Triple Eight at next weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS event at Phillip Island.
However, according to a team statement, the 31-year-old is expected to “recover well” in time for the Sandown event.
“Shane van Gisbergen is recovering from successful surgery on his collarbone after a mountain biking accident this morning,” the statement read.
“The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver had a plate inserted during the routine procedure in Brisbane this afternoon and is expected to recover well.
“Van Gisbergen was due to race in the debut round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS series next weekend at Phillip Island.
Courtney smacks the wall
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“While medically he would likely be able to do so, the decision has been made to wait until the Sandown SuperSprint in two weeks to return to the wheel to allow more time for a smooth recovery.
“Jamie Whincup will take his seat alongside His Highness Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the no. 888 AMG GT3 Evo.”
Van Gisbergen recorded a maximum 300-point haul at Mount Panorama last weekend, with Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert 33 points adrift in second.
This story originally appeared on Supercars.com and is reproduced with permission.
Sebastian Vettel said he believes he can win another Formula One world title as his new Aston Martin team unveiled their car on Wednesday ahead of a return to the grid.
Vettel, a four-time world champion for Red Bull, endured a miserable end to his six campaigns with Ferrari, finishing 13th in the 2020 standings.
The 33-year-old German is ready to move on to the next chapter of his career with Aston Martin – the historic British name returning to Formula One for the first time since 1960.
“It is not a secret that last year I wasn’t at my happiest,” Vettel said at Aston Martin’s launch, where the rebranded Racing Point team revealed its British racing green livery.
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“I know it wasn’t to my standards, that I was below myself, but I am very much at peace with it. I think I have another world championship in me… I am not too old and I still have a long time in me.”
Vettel, whose career tally of 53 grand prix wins has been surpassed only by fellow multiple world champions Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, was positive about his move.
“Things are different here than Ferrari because the team is growing,” he said.
“It is not about the fancy looks and the fancy chairs in the office but the work done behind the scenes and from what I have seen the people are very talented.”
The iconic colours will be back on the F1 grid (Photo by Dominic FRASER / various sources / AFP)Source: AFP
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer has cautioned that it will be three to five years before Aston Martin are in a position to challenge for world championships.
But Vettel said a team backed by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance is Aston Martin’s other driver, may get there sooner after F1 chiefs introduced budget caps to ensure greater competition.
“Formula One is changing and maybe you don’t need those three to five years anymore,” Vettel said.
“Maybe it will shrink and the hope is that everyone will be closer to the top and not just finish on the podium because the guys at the front retired or crashed.”
The new Formula One season starts in Bahrain on March 28.
The next great V8 rivalry will be born in Bathurst this year with the first completed Camaro to be revealed at Mount Panorama in October.
Set to take on the Mustang and create the next generation rivalry which will form the foundation of a sport, News Corp Australia can reveal the first Chevrolet Supercar will be completed in time for a Bathurst 1000 unveiling.
With components already being designing and constructed, the Camaro is part of the “Gen 3” program which will make the sport both more accessible and less expensive.
As part of News Corp Australia’s look into the biggest issues facing the sport, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer revealed the Bathurst 1000 was being targeted for the Gen 3 unveiling.
The Camaro will first be tested on tracks including Queensland Raceway before being unveiled to the public with a Mount Panorama hot-lap.
“At this stage I think we will be looking at the middle of the year (to test) based on the feedback that I have got from the committee,” Seamer said.
“It’s one of those things – you want to bring it to life, but you can’t rush it.
“Right now the middle of the year is the target.”
Seamer said the Gen 3 plans were progressing “very well” with his expert team navigating through the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously there is a tremendous amount of work to be done and continues to go on,” Seamer said.
“But the team and the committee and everyone involved has made the most of last year in particular, but also the extended break that we have had between races, this has been quite a long off-season by our standards, finishing at Bathurst at the end of October,” Seamer said.
“The time has been put to good use and they are flat out working through it.
“We are looking at making sure the transition is successful with the two platforms that we have got and now working towards a third manufacturer for the following year (2023).”
The firm charged with designing the new Supercar’s Camaro is confident of putting the revolutionary car on a racetrack by the end of the year.
“We continue to work with Supercars to try and ensure that what we put on track next year is what we have promised everyone,” said Triple Eight Race Engineer owner Roland Dane.
“I think the fans will gravitate towards the Chevrolet next year. The feedback that we have had has been overwhelmingly positive and continues to be.”
Also in charge of the Red Bull Ampol Racing, Dane said Chevrolet could replace Holden and become Ford’s next great rival.
“I think the demise of the Holden brand in the new car market here is unfortunate,” Dane said.
“But it has happened and it’s old news now and everyone has moved on.
“The Holden brand continues to hold a place in the hearts of many Australians as being something that they have grown up with and enjoyed etc and I’m sure that we’ll get plenty of Holden fans going forward even as we start racing Chevrolets.
The Supercars Gen3 Red Bull Camaro will be unveiled in October.Source: Supplied
“I don’t see that as an issue, the hangover from Holden fans. To be honest, our fan base across the country has become much broader than just Ford and Holden, but they do like to gravitate towards the brands when it comes to watching the racing.
“And we are going to continue that with Chevrolet, which is a very aspirational brand in this country. So I don’t see it as impediment, I think it is only going to add to the excitement.”
Holden great and “Car of the Future” mastermind Mark Skaife predicted the new rivalry between Chevrolet and Ford would be able to sustain the sport.
“I keep trying to think of the helicopter view of what Gen 3 stands for and to me it stands for three things: it stands for affordability, it stands for aspiration and it stands for authenticity,” Skaife said.
“So what we are trying to create is a car that looks very much like the car that we see in our showrooms and that we love, we are trying to create a next generation that is not a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or a McLaren or a whatever.
Davison not just here to make up numbers
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“It’s not unachievable, it’s an aspirational car that is essentially affordable.
“Really it’s about being part of that brand and having the brand association. Even if you’re a young person, you just love the look of the Camaro.
“I was a little bloke and I used to watch Bob Jane in a Camaro, Allan Moffat in a Mustang. They were the name plates for me that I thought, ‘Oh, wow’.
“If we can provide the same wow factor in the modern era, I see no reason why we can’t make it work.”
