It’s been a three-year buildup to the start of a new era in V8 Supercars and the new season is finally underway as the cars hit the streets of Newcastle for the first time.
According to Jamie Whincup, the seven-time champion-turned-team boss, excitement levels are “as high as it gets”.
“We’ve been starving for a new product for at least 12 months, probably longer, and here it is,” added Whincup.
“Three years of development, some going around in circles, up and down, or a bit over the side and then back to the middle again, and here we are: at a crazy little straight track, an amazing event, with a brand-new product. Yeah, it’s exciting.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“Firstly, it’s so good to be back here in Newcastle – what a place! The track was quite difficult when we first got out there and I felt like a bit of a wobbler for the first few laps and had a few dramas that were really tough. Over the course of the day, I started to get a handle on everything. I had a longer run in the final practice session today and felt like we were getting better and better. I noticed that there were a few drivers struggling out there – there were some instances where drivers couldn’t see me and almost turned into me which was pretty difficult, but everyone has the same problems.”
“It’s been awesome working with Andrew (Edwards, #97 Race Engineer) and coming up with plans for how we’ll approach each session. Last year he was sort of tuning a pretty finely-tuned race car at tracks when we got there, so this year is a really fresh challenge for both of us but it’s quite exciting. We’ll see how good the car really is and how good I am working with him, but it’s really cool so far.”
The first race of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship season at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 kicks off on Saturday 11th March. ( can be viewed in NZ on SkySport Channel 55)
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