Andretti and Brown buy into Walkinshaw Racing

IndyCar outfit Andretti Autosport and McLaren Formula 1 chief Zak Brown’s United Autosports have bought into Virgin Australia Supercars Championship team Walkinshaw Racing.

As of January 1, the Holden team will be known as Walkinshaw Andretti United, pending Supercars Board approval of the deal.

Ryan Walkinshaw and Michael Andretti will be equal stakeholders, with Brown holding a minority share.

Andretti joins IndyCar rival Team Penske in Supercars, three years after Roger Penske’s outfit acquired a majority stake in Dick Johnson Racing.

“This is a powerful endorsement of the Supercars Championship,” Supercars CEO James Warburton said.

“To have two of the biggest names in world motorsport take an active part in our sport is tremendous. It shows just how widely recognised Supercars is on the global stage.

“Congratulations to Ryan Walkinshaw and his Holden Special Vehicles team this will well and truly get them on the path to returning as a powerhouse of our sport.”

The Walkinshaw family’s Australian operations date back to the late Tom Walkinshaw’s initial partnership with Holden in the late 1980s, which became the all-conquering Holden Racing Team in 1990.

Holden factory backing moved to Triple Eight this season, as Walkinshaw Racing reestablished itself as Mobil 1 HSV Racing.

It split with managing director Adrian Burgess in May, with its drivers Scott Pye and James Courtney entering this weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in 18th and 19th places in the standings.