Triple Eight Falcon to return to Australia

The Red Bull Ampol Commodores driven by Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney at Pukekohe’s ITM Auckland SuperSprint aren’t the only Triple Eight Race Engineering-built cars making a trip across the Tasman this month.

The first V8 Supercar race car built by Triple Eight – a BA model Falcon – has recently been purchased by an Aussie buyer and is heading back ‘across the ditch’ very soon.

Former V8 Touring Car Series Champion Tony Evangelou has been revealed as the buyer of 888A-007.

The Falcon was raced by Brazilian Max Wilson in Betta Electrical colours in the 2004 championship, the first year of Triple Eight racing in-house built chassis rather than the Briggs-built cars it inherited when it bought John Briggs Motorsport in 2003.

Evangelou’s new acquisition has a six-litre engine currently under its bonnet, though it comes with a disassembled five-litre Supercar engine as well.

The former Saloon Car champion last raced in the Combined Sedans category at the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour at the wheel of his former ex-FPR Falcon and has been “missing racing” and keen to get back behind the wheel.

The car racing in 2008

He has plenty of options of categories in which he can race his new acquisition in 2023.

“With the V8 Touring Car category being re-established (and Super3 run separately) next year, we’ll take a look at that,” Evangelou said.

“We can run in Sports Sedans with the six-litre engine, which has no kilometres on it. I’m keen to get back out there, I’ve been missing going racing.”

The 007 chassis won the 2006 Fujitsu Series (now Super2) in the hands of Adam Macrow with Betta Electrical backing run by Howard Racing and has been in New Zealand since mid-2010.

Evangelou has competed at all three levels of Supercars competition.

He co-drove with Anthony Tratt at Sandown and Bathurst in a Perkins-prepared Toll Commodore in 2005 and made a one-off start in the final round of the 2006 Supercars Championship at Phillip Island with his Dexion Falcon, filling the #021 entry slot for Team Kiwi Racing.

Evangelou competed in 25 rounds of the Supercars Development Series (now Super2) between 2002 and 2008 and won the 2010 V8 Touring Car Series.