A MAJOR move is in the works at Matt Stone Racing, with the Chevrolet squad preparing to relocate into a historically significant Supercars facility.
MSR is currently based at 18a Computer Road in Yatala, with the adjacent block (18b) having been the long-time home of the former Stone Brothers Racing engine shop and its various subsequent guises (most recently Motorsport Powertrains, operated by Dick Johnson Racing).
Renovations have been ongoing, with the objective of moving MSR’s Supercars Championship operations into 18b and leaving 18a as a dedicated space for its burgeoning support category programs.
Team owner Matt Stone said the project is being executed in four stages so as to not compromise day-to-day functionality.
“So the block of land that we have our factory on is owned by my old man, Jimmy Stone,” he told V8 Sleuth.
“And what was the old Stone Brothers engine shop with all of its equipment which 20 years ago was state-of-the-art, and still is quite frankly, was owned by Jimmy and leased to Erebus and then Mostech and Herrod and Motorsport Powertrains as a turnkey engine facility.
“Obviously with Motorsport Powertrains dissolving (as a result of Triple Eight taking over the Ford engine program), that left a very custom and bespoke space… and we were bursting at the seams in the shed that we’re in with our expansion in support categories.
“We had a smaller shed on the back of the block that we use for overflow storage. That shed is quite good because it has its own driveway through the side street, so we effectively have moved all of our storage out and reconfigured that shed and leased that out to a third party.
“We’re in the process of decommissioning and selling the engine infrastructure, because that was quite bespoke for engine building at a high level, so we’re refitting that out and building a brand-new state-of-the-art race shop for our main game.
“So our main game operation will move into that shed, and what is our current race shop will become home of all our support categories.
Matt Stone. Pic: Mark Walker
“It’s exciting. It’s a much better layout.
“Our goal is to be moved in and operational at full capacity before Bathurst, but it probably won’t have the finishing touches until later in the year.”
The new MSR main game workshop will also include a fresh subassembly space.
Having focused purely on its top-level program in recent seasons, MSR is this year fielding Super2 Commodores for Ayrton Hodson and Tommy Smith as well as TA2 Camaros for Smith, Chris Smerdon and Pat Neville.
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