Chahda's wildcard motivation after dramatic debut

Matt Chahda is motivated to show his true hand in the main game with his latest wildcard effort, following a challenging debut in the 2022 Great Race.

Matt Chahda Motorsport will race in this year's Penrite Oil Sandown 500 and Repco Bathurst 1000, with the team's wildcard recently given the green light.

It comes after the Chahdas announced plans to enter a wildcard late last year, with an eye on both endurances races.

The family-run Albury privateer squad competed in the 2022 Bathurst 1000, with Chahda making his debut alongside rising star Jaylyn Robotham. Chahda and Robotham survived a dramatic race, held after days of heavy rain, to finish 18th and on the lead lap.

Dramas in pit lane and ill-timed green flag running kept the Chahda/Robotham entry playing catch-up, fuelling Chahda's motivation to come back stronger in 2024.

Chahda will race again in 2024, but the team is keen to hand a young driver a chance, with Robotham joining Brad Jones Racing.

The Chahdas are also in talks with fellow Albury squad BJR and Triple Eight Race Engineering about entering one of their Chevrolet Camaros.

"It’s cool to get to do both races — last time in Bathurst, we put on a good show with a good campaign,” Chahda said.

“That Bathurst was a weekend of rain in every single session except for the race, and we finished on the lead lap despite losing heaps of time in the pits.

“So, we didn't get to have a good crack at it like a lot of other people did, but we still pretty much beat a lot of full-time drivers and big teams.

“This year, it’s a new car, and we want to get a young driver in the car. We're not gonna get some old bloke, we want to give someone a shot.

“Nothing is set in stone with a car yet — BJR have been building another car for a while, and Triple Eight have got a couple of cars already sitting there. It's just about doing the deal."

In the interim, Chahda is determined to turn around his Super2 campaign at the upcoming Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint after crashing at the Bathurst season-opener in February.

Chahda was classified 14th in the shortened opening race, before hitting the wall across the top of the Mountain to leave Bathurst 19th in the standings and 237 points behind series leader Kai Allen.

The team has since repaired the damaged Holden, which will hit the track at a pre-Perth test day at Winton Motor Raceway this week.

"Bathurst was obviously was a bad start of the year, I feel like I should be comfortably fighting in that top five,” he said.

“I've gotta have a good couple next rounds before we start thinking about [double duty at Sandown and Bathurst].

"I reckon it should be pretty good in Perth. I haven't traditionally liked the track that much, but it’s a great chance to go out there and get some results."

The Repco Supercars Championship and Dunlop Series will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on May 17-19. Tickets are on sale now.