A new season, a new rivalry and a new chapter is ready to to be written in the ever-growing Repco Supercars Championship history book.
This weekend’s grand return to the picturesque yet chaotic streets of Newcastle is a fitting choice for the arrival of the new Gen3 cars – a new dawn for Australia’s premier racing category.
With testing in these exciting cars having been limited in the pre-season, this season may very well be one of the most exciting ever as a result of the uncertainty over the lack of running of these new cars.
Many questions will be asked throughout 2023, such as how the lower downforce and new aero package will affect teams or if the older drivers with more experience will have a slight advantage over their young rookies despite the cars being new for all.
Shane van Gisbergen and Triple Eight Racing have been a dominant force in the past few years of Supercars - but will they adapt to the brand-new Chevrolet Camaro best out of all the other teams and drivers moving from Holden?
Will Walkinshaw Andretti United’s big switch to Ford pay dividends and propel Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert into title contention where this popular team belongs for many?
Of course, the questions are endless, as is the talk of predictions and permutations, yet many of those questions will be answered at this weekend’s Thrifty Newcastle 500.
A jam-packed schedule throughout the weekend will bring in the new season in style for the category as two 250km races await the 25 competitors.
There will be a number of Dunlop Super2 Series graduates making their Supercars debut this weekend, including Cameron Hill at Matt Stone Racing, Matthew Payne at Grove Racing and Declan Fraser at Tickford Racing.
All three drivers replaced drivers for different reasons, with Fraser coming in for the outgoing Jake Kostecki, Payne filling the vacant seat after Lee Holdsworth’s retirement and Hill taking the spot left by South Australian Todd Hazelwood.
While Kosestcki and Holdsworth won’t feature this year, Hazelwood will remain on the grid as he begins his new life with Tim Blanchard Racing after Tim Slade left to join PremiAir Racing at the expense of Chris Pither.
As for the support bill for the season opener, there are three categories in action with the Gulf Western Oils Touring Car Masters, Aussie Racing Cars and the Dunlop Super2 Series to add to the spectacle of the round.
Kayo and Fox Sports will be showcasing every session live and ad-free, while the Seven network will be showcasing the event live and free from 12:30pm AEDT on both days.
Tickets for the event are still available and can be purchased here.
The Thrifty Newcastle 500 takes place around the streets of Newcastle on 10-12 March.
Schedule
Friday 10 March
11:15am - 12:00pm: Practice 1
1:45am – 2:30pm: Practice 2
3:50pm – 4:35pm: Practice 3
Saturday 11 March
11:15am - 11:35am Armor All Qualifying Race 1
12:35pm - 1:00pm Armor All Top 10 Shootout Race 1
3:20pm – 5:20pm: Race 1
Sunday 12 March
11:15am - 11:35am Armor All Qualifying Race 2
12:35pm - 1:00pm Armor All Top 10 Shootout Race 2
3:20pm – 5:20pm: Race 2
*All times are AEDT.
Support categories
Touring Car Masters
Aussie Racing Cars
Dunlop Super2 Series
Entry list
Walkinshaw Andretti United
#2 Chevrolet Camaro - Nick Percat
#25 Chevrolet Camaro - Chaz Mostert
Tim Blanchard Racing
#3 Ford Mustang - Todd Hazelwood
Brad Jones Racing
#4 Chevrolet Camaro - Jack Smith
#8 Chevrolet Camaro - Andre Heimgartner
#14 Chevrolet Camaro - Bryce Fullwood
#96 Chevrolet Camaro - Macauley Jones
Tickford Racing
#5 Ford Mustang GT - James Courtney
#50 Ford Mustang GT - Cameron Waters
#55 Ford Mustang GT - Thomas Randle
#56 Ford Mustang GT - Declan Fraser
Grove Racing
#19 Ford Mustang GT - Matthew Payne
#26 Ford Mustang GT - David Reynolds
Erebus Motorsport
#9 Chevrolet Camaro - Will Brown
#99 Chevrolet Camaro - Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
#11 Ford Mustang GT - Anton De Pasquale
#17 Ford Mustang GT - Will Davison
Team 18
#18 Chevrolet Camaro - Mark Winterbottom
#20 Chevrolet Camaro - Scott Pye
PremiAir Racing
#23 Chevrolet Camaro - Tim Slade
#31 Chevrolet Camaro - James Golding
Matt Stone Racing
#34 Chevrolet Camaro - Jack Le Brocq
#35 Chevrolet Camaro - Cameron Hill
Triple Eight Race Engineering
#88 Chevrolet Camaro - Broc Feeney
#97 Chevrolet Camaro - Shane van Gisbergen