{"id":432566,"date":"2026-01-23T16:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432566\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T16:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:37:21","slug":"supercars-news-walkinshaw-names-drivers-for-expanded-toyota-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432566\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Walkinshaw names drivers for expanded Toyota program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GR-Cup.jpg\" alt=\"Walkinshaw names drivers for expanded Toyota program\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe GR Cup field at Bathurst. Image: InSyde Media <\/p>\n<p>Walkinshaw Andretti United, which officially becomes Walkinshaw TWG Racing on February 3, will run three GR Cup entries this season.<\/p>\n<p>It has named youngsters Ayce Buckley, Pip Casabene and Liam Gerges as its 2026 drivers for the series that kicks off alongside Supercars in Sydney next month.<\/p>\n<p>Buckley steps up from Hyundai Excels, while Casabene and Gerges are looking to continue their progression in the Toyota system.<\/p>\n<p>Team CEO Bruce Stewart welcomed all three to the team, trumpeting the pathway provided.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis expansion in the TGRA GR Cup is about far more than just adding cars to a grid, it\u2019s about creating genuine pathways for young people in our sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRyan Wood\u2019s journey started in the GR Cup, highlighting just how powerful this category can be as a development platform, but not just for drivers. \u201c<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1017411\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-W-Foundation-Academy-Signing_1920x1080-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>From left: Buckley, Casabene, Luff and Gerges. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>Warren Luff, who has mentored Walkinshaw\u2019s young drivers in recent years, steps into a reprofiled team manager role.<\/p>\n<p>Walkinshaw\u2019s GR Cup expansion comes after it parked its Super2 Series operation at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been with the team for over a decade and this year my involvement will look a bit different but I\u2019m really excited to take on the challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019ll be great to work with new young talent in the sport, Ayce, Pip and Liam have shown great promise and already fit into the team really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walkinshaw will reveal its first Toyota Supercars race liveries on February 8.<\/p>\n<p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/t.cfjump.com\/92797\/b\/285249\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/285249.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The GR Cup field at Bathurst. Image: InSyde Media Walkinshaw Andretti United, which officially becomes Walkinshaw TWG Racing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-432566","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-motor","11":"tag-motor-sports","12":"tag-motosport","13":"tag-motosports","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432566","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=432566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}