Saturday Sleuthing: The 2014 V8 Supercars Guide

Saturday Sleuthing normally deals with cars that have finished up racing in the V8 Supercars Championship, but today it’s all about the field for 2014.

V8 Sleuth Aaron Noonan regularly gets asked just which driver is piloting which car at any given V8 Supercars event, so he’s put together this great guide to bring up to speed with who will be racing what at next weekend’s Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

Some drivers are in the same cars; others have swapped chassis or have a new one. Here’s the breakdown of the field of 25 for 2014.

#1 – Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Racing Australia – Holden Commodore VFChassis – 888-037

The reigning champion is again behind the wheel of the car he and Paul Dumbrell debuted with victory at last year’s Sandown 500. Nicknamed ‘Elizabeth’, it’s the car Whincup took to the Championship with on the streets of Sydney.

#2 – Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team – Holden Commodore VFChassis – WR 019

The 2007 V8 Supercars Champion is back behind the wheel of the same Commodore he drove throughout the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship. No change for the car and driver combination that won in Townsville last year.

#4 – Lee Holdsworth – Erebus Motorsport V8 – Mercedes-Benz AMG E63Chassis – SBR24-EM02-2012

Lee Holdsworth retains the same chassis he drove last year in the first year of the new Erebus Mercedes-Benz racers.The team has retained the car run by Tim Slade last year as a spare, which they will strip, repaint and retain as a spare in addition to another spare chassis, which was originally built up as a Falcon New Generation machine and given a brief systems test at Queensland Raceway in 2012.

#5 – Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew – Ford Falcon FGChassis – FPR 1217

The reigning Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Champion has a brand new car for the 2014 season. The chassis itself was actually commenced in 2012 and completed last year before being turned into a complete race car for this season and given its first on-track run at the Sydney Motorsport Park pre-season test.

**#6 – Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew – Ford Falcon FG**Chassis – FPR 1216

The new lad on the scene at Ford Performance Racing takes over the #6 Falcon as raced last season by Will Davison. It won a race at Pukekohe last year and finished third in the championship.

**#7 – Todd Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing – Nissan Altima**Chassis – KR 004

There is absolutely no change at Nissan Motorsport with all four drivers lining up in the same Altimas they drove for the entire 2013 season. The obvious change though is their modified aerodynamics package for 2014.

#8 – Jason Bright – Team BOC – Holden Commodore VFChassis – BJR 001

There is no change for Jason Bright as he lines up in the same chassis that he raced in 2013.

**#9 – Will Davison – Erebus Motorsport V8 – Mercedes-Benz AMG E63**Chassis – SBR23-EM01-2012

New Erebus signing Will Davison has taken over the same car raced by Maro Engel last season in SP Tools colours. It was the second New Generation chassis built by the team but the first built into a Mercedes-Benz AMG E63.

**#14 – Fabian Coulthard – Lockwood Racing – Holden Commodore VF**Chassis – BJR 002

There is no change for any of the BJR chassis. Coulthard is again behind the wheel of the car he drove in 2013.

**#15 – Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing – Nissan Altima**Chassis – KR 002

There is absolutely no change at Nissan Motorsport with all four drivers lining up in the same Altimas they drove for the entire 2013 season.

**#16 – Scott Pye – Wilson Security Racing – Ford Falcon FGChassis – DJR FG19**The former Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport pilot takes over the Falcon raced last year by Tim Blanchard. It ran as the #17 entry all of last season bar Bathurst where it was renumbered to #12 though still driven by Blanchard and Ash Walsh.

**#17 – David Wall – Wilson Security Racing – Ford Falcon FG**Chassis – DJR FG18

The new Dick Johnson Racing signing takes over the car driven last year as the #12 Falcon by Jonny Reid and later Chaz Mostert. It’s the car that won at Queensland Raceway and ran as the Greens-Tuf Falcon at Bathurst.

#18 – Jack Perkins – Team JELD-WEN – Ford Falcon FGChassis – FPR 1212

The JELD-WEN Falcon remains the same car as driven by Alex Davison last year, though with a new-look livery and a new pilot in Perkins.

#21 – Dale Wood – Advam Racing – Holden Commodore VFChassis – BJR 003

This chassis remains the same #21 Commodore as run by Brad Jones Racing in 2013, though Dunlop Series Champion Dale Wood has replaced David Wall.

**#22 – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team – Holden Commodore VF**Chassis – WR 020

James Courtney makes his racing return aboard the one-event old Commodore debuted by his fill-in Nick Percat in Sydney last year. The chassis involved in the nasty accident between Courtney and Alex Premat at Phillip Island last year (WR 017) has been kept for R&D projects in-house but it will never turn a race wheel in anger again.

**#23 – Russell Ingall – Repair Management Australia Racing – Holden Commodore VF**Chassis – 888-035

The Enforcer is behind the wheel of the car raced by Scott Pye for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport. Built by Triple Eight, it’s spent time on the jig at Nissan Motorsport during the off-season being given a birthday ahead of the new season. The car used by Dean Fiore last season (888-031) is retained at the team’s workshop in Melbourne.

**#33 – Scott McLaughlin – Valvoline Racing GRM – Volvo S60**Chassis – GRM 17

This is the second Volvo S60 built by Garry Rogers Motorsport and given its first run on-track at the sydney.com Test Day. The GRM team has retained its two chassis from last year as raced by McLaughlin and Alex Premat. They are spares and, naturally under New Generation car rules, would be able to be rebuilt into Volvos.

**#34 – Robert Dahlgren – Valvoline Racing GRM – Volvo S60**Chassis – GRM 16

The Swede is driving the first Volvo chassis completed by GRM that was used for all of the aerodynamic testing in late 2013 and early 2014. It’s also the car Scott McLaughlin drove across the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the team’s launch day.

**#36 – Michael Caruso – Norton Hornets – Nissan Altima**Chassis – KR 001

There is absolutely no change at Nissan Motorsport with all four drivers lining up in the same Altimas they drove for the entire 2013 season.

**#47 – Tim Slade – Supercheap Auto Racing – Holden Commodore VF**Chassis – WR 016

Tim Slade takes over Russell Ingall’s seat at Walkinshaw Racing and also takes over the same Commodore as driven by the 2005 V8 Supercar champion last year, albeit with a number change. It’s the first New Generation-spec chassis built by Walkinshaw Racing in 2012.

#55 – David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team – Ford Falcon FGChassis – FPR 1214

David Reynolds has a new car for this year … well new to him! It’s the car that won Bathurst last year in the hands of Mark Winterbottom and Steve Richards and was driven all season in 2013 by ‘Frosty’. Reynolds’ car from last year (FPR 1215 – the first New Generation car completed by the team) now reverts to being a team spare.

#97 – Shane van Gisbergen – Team Tekno VIP Petfoods – Holden Commodore VFChassis – 888-034

No change for the Kiwi who is driving the same car he used for all of last season. The sister car driven by Jonathon Webb last year now becomes a spare given the team has scaled down to one entry.

**#222 – Nick Percat – Walkinshaw Racing – Holden Commodore VF**Chassis – WR 018

Nick Percat’s first full-time V8 Supercars Championship chassis is actually the one he was originally going to drive last year in the endurance races for Tony D’Alberto Racing. Driven last year by D’Alberto as the Hiflex entry, the car was bought back by Walkinshaw Racing in the off-season.

#360 – James Moffat – Norton Hornets – Nissan AltimaChassis – KR 003

There is absolutely no change at Nissan Motorsport with all four drivers lining up in the same Altimas they drove for the entire 2013 season.

#888 – Craig Lowndes – Red Bull Racing Australia – Holden Commodore VFChassis – 888-036

The firm fan favourite returns in 2014 in the same chassis he took to second place in last year’s V8 Supercars Championship.

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