The 25-car grid of drivers has been locked in for the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship. Pic: Nathan Wong
THE full field of drivers is locked in for the first season of the Repco Supercars Championship’s Gen3 era.
Tickford Racing’s confirmation that Declan Fraser will replace Jake Kostecki in its four-car lineup represented the final unexpected piece of the 2023 grid puzzle.
In a year where the series’ cars are undergoing a seismic change, the driver lineup across those 25 cars has a comparatively similar look to that of the 2022 season.
SCHEDULE: The full calendar for the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship
RUNDOWN: How the Supercars engineer silly season is playing out
A total of 20 drivers will race for the same team that they drove for at last year’s season-ending Adelaide 500.
The key off-season moves were triggered by Tim Slade, who left the Blanchard Racing Team to move to PremiAir Racing for 2023.
Todd Hazelwood will take his place at Tim Blanchard’s Ford squad, which opened up a vacancy filled by Cameron Hill at Matt Stone Racing.
Hill is one of three rookies graduating from Super2 this year, with the class led by 2022 second-tier champion Fraser, while Matthew Payne replaces the retiring Lee Holdsworth at Grove Racing.
Another big off-season move is being made at Walkinshaw Andretti United.
The long-time Holden squad announced last year that it will switch to Ford for the start of the Gen3 era.
BEYOND THE LION: Walkinshaw’s previous manufacturer history outside Holden
The 2023 season will be the 64th year an ATCC/Supercars Championship will be held, but it will be the first to be held entirely without Holden after the Australian marque took its final bow last year.
Chevrolet will represent General Motors in 2023, bringing the Camaro nameplate back to the championship for the first time since 1984.
MORE: Camaro’s history in Australian touring car racing
The manufacturer split will be much more even this year courtesy of WAU’s defection, although GM will again have the upper hand with a total of 14 Chevrolet Camaros on the grid compared to Ford’s 11 Mustangs.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will get underway at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.
ENTRY LIST: 2023 Repco Supercars Championship
| team | No. | drivers | cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Chevy Camaro |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | 88 | Broc Feeney | Chevy Camaro |
| Dick Johnson Racing | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang |
| Dick Johnson Racing | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang |
| Tickford Racing | 5 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang |
| Tickford Racing | 6 | Cam Waters | Ford Mustang |
| Tickford Racing | 55 | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang |
| Tickford Racing | 56 | Declan Fraser | Ford Mustang |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | 2 | Nick Percat | Ford Mustang |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang |
| Grove Racing | 19 | Matthew Payne | Ford Mustang |
| Grove Racing | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang |
| Erebus Motorsport | 9 | Will Brown | Chevy Camaro |
| Erebus Motorsport | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Chevy Camaro |
| team 18 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Chevy Camaro |
| team 18 | 20 | Scott Pye | Chevy Camaro |
| Brad Jones Racing | 8th | Andre Heimgartner | Chevy Camaro |
| Brad Jones Racing | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | Chevy Camaro |
| Brad Jones Racing | 96 | Macauley Jones | Chevy Camaro |
| Brad Jones Racing | 4 | JackSmith | Chevy Camaro |
| Matt Stone Racing | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | Chevy Camaro |
| Matt Stone Racing | 35 | Cameron Hill | Chevy Camaro |
| Premium Air Racing | TBA | Tim Slade | Chevy Camaro |
| Premium Air Racing | 31 | James Golding | Chevy Camaro |
| Blanchard Racing Team | 3 | Todd Hazelwood | Ford Mustang |
