The reigning champions are starting their first season ever with two brand new cars, and drivers Rick Kelly and Garth Tander are keen to hit the Adelaide streets.
Holden Racing Team – Mark Skaife (#2), Todd Kelly (#22)
In a similar situation to the sister Toll HSV operation, the Holden Racing Team has endured a TEGA enquiry in close proximity to the season start. However the team was cleared and will be on the grid come the opening race of the season.
Tasman GMC Motorsport – Jason Richards (#3), Greg Murphy (#51)
Tasman Motorsport begins another year of sponsorship rotation arrangements at the Clipsal 500, with GMC joining the team as their major backer in Adelaide. Encouraging results from testing at Winton Raceway will bolster this team as it goes into Adelaide.
“It is an extremely exciting time for Tasman Motorsport, and V8 Supercars in general, and I'm more than glad to be a part of it,” said Richards.
“First time out of the box the VE Commodore was pretty impressive; quick times weren't the object of the day, it was more of a shakedown, but it was quite responsive to the changes we made. To be as good as it was is a real credit to the entire team, which has put in a huge effort to get us to Adelaide.
“We'd like to win the race, no questions, but our main focus is on making sure we come away with good results from both races and set up our season. We've had a strong package there in the past, as shown by our lap record last year, but we haven't had the 'real' results we were looking for and that puts the entire team on the back foot for the rest of the season - it's proved to be our Achilles heel”
“There are a lot of positive things going on at Tasman Motorsport and I am happy to be joining the team in what promises to be a most exciting chapter in its history.”
“The team has been blazing away and putting in some strong performances over the last couple of years, and things will only improve with the strong team they have assembled.”
Stone Brothers Racing – James Courtney (#4), Russell Ingall (#9)
Stone Brothers Racing are hoping to come out swinging this weekend after the two SBR Falcons punched out consistent laptimes at Queensland Raceway in testing. Despite some dramas for the #4 Jeld-Wen Falcon, Ingall proved a consistent lapper in his #9 machine.
“Testing was good on Tuesday; but I think we still need a bit more pace,” said Ingall.
“I wouldn’t say that we have come away from our first test thinking that we are going to get to Adelaide and win by half a lap.
“I do know that we are 100 per cent better off than we were the same time 12 months ago which is encouraging.
