{"id":345548,"date":"2025-12-13T14:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T14:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/345548\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T14:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T14:57:16","slug":"supercars-news-triple-eight-knocked-back-ford-bathurst-12-hour-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/345548\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Triple Eight knocked back Ford Bathurst 12 Hour deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Triple
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHaupt Racing Team will lead Ford’s Bathurst tilt. Image: HRT<\/p>\n

The Mustang GT3 is set to race on Australian soil for the first time with a factory-backed Bathurst tilt run by German outfit Haupt Racing Team (HRT).<\/p>\n

HRT switched from Mercedes to Ford for the 2025 season, campaigning Mustangs in GT World Challenge, DTM, ADAC Masters and the N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hour.<\/p>\n

Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup told Speedcafe his team will have a limited involvement in the Bathurst 12 Hour program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have a very, very small involvement but it\u2019d be disrespectful to HRT to call it a partnership or an alliance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very much HRT and we may come along on the day and offer some assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bathurst 12 Hour will take place on Sunday February 15, just three days before the Supercars pre-season test in Sydney that leads into the season-opener.<\/p>\n

Whincup said the timing as it switches its Supercars program from GM to Ford has prevented a full 12 Hour assault.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

HRT Mustangs contesting GTWCE. Image: HRT<\/p>\n

\u201cFord Performance asked us to run one if not two Mustang GTs at that event, but I\u2019m just paranoid that we\u2019re going to spread ourselves too thin,\u201d Whincup revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work we\u2019ve got to do between now and Round 1, changing the cars over, wind tunnel testing, which is HT responsibility, and create a new engine shop\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that comes off the tongue within five seconds, it\u2019s a huge, huge job. The 12 Hour right in the middle of that just doesn\u2019t make sense for 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve got the feeling it will make sense in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

Triple Eight has a long history with the 12 Hour, winning in collaboration with Ferrari team Maranello Motorsport in 2014 and \u201917 before embarking on a partnership with Mercedes.<\/p>\n

The team has now relinquished its role as the customer racing agent for Mercedes-AMG in Australia and New Zealand.<\/a><\/p>\n

As for whether Triple Eight will seek a similar role with Ford with future GT3 or GT4 supply deals, Whincup said: \u201cAt the moment the Miedeckes are running the GT4 side of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got enough going on with our Supercars program, so our focus is not GT racing next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be in the future but at the moment the GT alliance is with the Miedecke group and they seem to be doing a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Mercedes-AMG deal means for Tigani and its customers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Haupt Racing Team will lead Ford’s Bathurst tilt. Image: HRT The Mustang GT3 is set to race on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,95585,806,805,803,804,6490,85,7500],"class_list":{"0":"post-345548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-jamie-whincup","11":"tag-motor","12":"tag-motor-sports","13":"tag-motosport","14":"tag-motosports","15":"tag-slot3","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-triple-eight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}