As Motorsport.com first reported in March, Supercars will change its engine delivery rules in line with next generation rules.
As things stand, teams are free to buy, lease or build homologated V8s, but it is now clear that KRE Race Engines (Chevrolet) and Mostech Race Engines (Ford) will be the exclusive suppliers of the new box-based units .
This means that WAU’s own engine program, which runs under the WR banner, can neither prepare its own racing engines nor continue the existing supply contract with cross-town rival Erebus Motorsport.
But instead of closing the program, WR future proofed it by penetrating deeper into the customer market.
For the first time ever, the famous Holden team will take on a wide range of engine customers, from Super2 to ATCC / Supercars restoration projects to non-Supercars engines including road vehicles.
“The engine division of Walkinshaw Racing is the force behind some of the greatest supercars moments in history,” said WAU team principal Bruce Stewart.
“It has been in operation for over 30 years and currently has more than 100 years of racing experience.
“For the first time we are opening our doors and our expertise to the public so that we can give their engines the Walkinshaw treatment. Motor shops can be like Fort Knox, which is why this is such a cool opportunity for everyone.
“We have an amazing, experienced and knowledgeable team that lives and breathes engines. Everything from championships to Bathurst victories, and who could forget that plastic bag…. They were all built by our team.
“We understand how broad the Australian motorsport scene is, we don’t just want to work on Walkinshaw engines, we are open to all categories and time periods, there are also the high-performance road cars that we can help with.
“We have everything in-house to be able to help you, from our machine shop, production hall, sub-assembly department and engine department, which are able to handle everything from engine assembly to design and development to test bench tuning.
“It’s an unprecedented opportunity to have some of Australia’s best engine technicians work on a variety of engines, which is really cool to see.”
WR is one of three in-house engine programs currently used in supercars.
Tickford Racing has long planned to keep its shop open into the Gen3 era so that it could least serve its own Super2 program and Super2 customers.
The secondary series will continue to run Car of the Future / Gen2’s existing hardware, with the current Mustangs and ZB Holdens coming out for the 2023 season.
The same goes for Kelly Racing, which will effectively split from Grove Racing as part of the upcoming Grove family buyout but will continue to act as the team’s technical partner.
While KR may not be able to supply racing engines to GR, it will still have a market to build both Nissan and Ford V8s for Super2 competitors.
KRE currently supplies engines to most Holden teams, including Triple Eight and Brad Jones Racing, while Mostech works exclusively with Dick Johnson Racing.
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said the move to a single supplier per manufacturer should be welcomed by the teams.
“There are two homologation teams developing the engines,” Seamer said in a recent media roundtable. “Right now these are the two parties that will move from design to production.
“I’m not sure [teams] want to be [build their own engines], to be honest. The costs for the engines have been falling so far.
“Mostech and KRE are the ones who do all of the work and development on these engines with Ford and GM respectively.
“I would certainly hesitate to hand over building these engines, certainly in the short to medium term. Never say never, but it’s a critical part of bringing a new car to market. All you’re going to do is take risks.” of failing by giving away such things.
“Of course it will be Mostech and KRE as we go through Gen3 development, launch and production and get these cars on the grid.
“If KRE and Mostech decide in the long term to supply other racing teams with components, that’s fine. But you can get into a dangerous situation if you try to farm too much stuff too soon. “
Engine development is in full swing, with Triple Eight and KRE currently using a test mule to power a prototype of the 5.7 liter Chevrolet engine.
The Ford engine, a 5.4 liter version of the tried and tested aluminator unit, has yet to begin track testing but is well advanced in its development.
