THE job of bringing the Toyota Supra Supercar to life was far more complicated than first thought, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s head honcho has admitted.
Almost 12 months on from the project being announced, the first Supra began track testing yesterday at Winton Motor Raceway.
That came after a particularly intricate mission to mould the Toyota’s 2UR-GSE V8 engine to Supercars specifications.
“It was a lot bigger a program than we thought it was going to be – primarily because of the engine,” Ryan Walkinshaw said this week.
“We thought we were going to have a bit more of an engine we could just slot in, but it actually required a huge amount of design work.
“Fortunately, the team managed to hit their targets and we managed to hit our timeframes.”
Ryan Walkinshaw. Pic: Supplied/Mark Horsburgh
The 5.2-litre engine was the complete focus of yesterday’s running, according to WAU team principal Carl Faux.
“We’re not doing any performance testing. We’re not doing any chassis tuning or aerodynamic work. This is a test that is purely about engine,” said Faux, who has even missed some rounds this season given his centrality to the Toyota effort.
For Walkinshaw, there are zero changes to the team’s objectives but an embrace of the heightened pressure on their shoulders.
“It adds a little bit of extra pressure but pressure makes diamonds and we’re excited for the challenge,” he said.
Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood will continue to be WAU’s drivers into the Toyota era next year.
The other four Supras in the field will belong to Brad Jones Racing, which has André Heimgartner under contract and at this stage is expected to round out its roster with Cameron Hill, Macauley Jones and Jaxon Evans (the latter using the SCT charter).
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