Blanchard Racing Team to field two Mustangs
The Blanchard Racing Team (BRT) will expand to two cars in the Supercars Championship from next year, following the acquisition of a second teams racing charter.
The second Gen3 Ford Mustang, codenamed BRT002, will debut at the upcoming Sandown 500 endurance race as a wildcard entry, steered by BRT Super 2 driver Aaron Love, and Jake Kostecki. A driver for the 2024 championship is yet to be announced.
Since the start of the 2021 season, BRT has been the lone single-car outfit in the top tier of Supercars, with the team campaigning a CoolDrive Racing Mustang. In that time, the outfit punched above its weight in claiming 31 top-10 finishes.
For 2023, the team expanded its Supercars presence with an entry in the Super2 Series in anticipation of a second championship entry, with Love achieving a pair of second place finishes from his first three events.
The growth will provide advantages from multiple standpoints, including staffing, logistically, technically, and at the track, where both cars will share a pit boom.
“We are incredibly excited to be expanding BRT into a two-car team for the 2024 season,” said Tim Blanchard, co-principal at the Blanchard Racing Team.
“Expansion was always part of our five-year plan when we started the team, and after taking steps in that direction this year with the Wildcard and Super 2 programs, we feel the timing is ideal.
“Starting as a one-car team was right for us initially, but we are now in the position where we need two cars’ worth of data for development purposes, and to also expand the business to create greater depth in staffing and other resources.
“This in turn, will ensure BRT will become even more competitive and sustainable moving forwards.
“We will announce drivers, sponsors, and other key components of the expansion in the coming weeks, but we are well advanced in the preparation for 2024 while still focussed on finishing this year strongly.”
The Sandown 500 will be held from September 15-17, followed by the second Supercars endurance race of the season, the Bathurst 1000 from October 5 to 8.
Photo: Blanchard Racing Team co-principals, John Blanchard and Tim Blanchard.
