{"id":453543,"date":"2026-02-02T12:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/453543\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T12:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:10:15","slug":"supercars-news-blanchard-racing-team-expands-super2-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/453543\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Blanchard Racing Team expands Super2 team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Supercars-Bathurst1000-Super2-051-copy.jpg\" alt=\"BRT signs former Tickford star for Super2 expansion\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBlanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny at Mount Panorama. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n<p>He comes to BRT off the back of finishing runner-up to former Tickford Racing teammate Rylan Gray in last year\u2019s Super2 Series.<\/p>\n<p>Dalton will be joined by Bailey Sweeny, who will continue with BRT for his second tilt in the Supercars feeder series.<\/p>\n<p>Dalton will drive the #43 while Sweeny continues in the #33 entry.<\/p>\n<p>BRT said the expansion was part of an \u201congoing commitment to driver development and strengthening progression pathways\u201d in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExpanding our Super2 program is an important step for us and for the broader driver pathway in Australian motorsport,\u201d said team owner Tim Blanchard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about creating opportunity and providing the right environment for young drivers to develop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLochie\u2019s results through the 2025 season showed real pace and talent, while Bailey\u2019s progress in his rookie year laid a strong foundation to build from.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur focus is on development and performance, and on giving drivers the tools they need to take that next step toward Supercars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1018212\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BRT-Super2-2026.jpg\" alt=\"Blanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny (left) with Lochie Dalton.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Blanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny (left) with Lochie Dalton.<\/p>\n<p>Dalton\u2019s third Super2 Series tilt was headlined by taking the most pole positions of any driver, as well as three race wins and six podiums.<\/p>\n<p>After finishing second to Gray, Dalton had initially not planned to race in the Super2 Series this year.<\/p>\n<p>Dalton will contest the Supercars Championship\u2019s Enduro Cup with Erebus Motorsport this year, co-driving with Cooper Murray.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to come back just to make up the numbers,\u201d said Dalton, who will drive an ex-Tickford Racing Ford Mustang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s definitely some unfinished business for me, and I\u2019m coming in with that clear focus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe team has shown they\u2019re building something strong, and I feel like this is the right place for me to push for the championship again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sweeny said he wants to build on his debut season, which included on podium finish at Queensland Raceway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe built a good foundation last season and I learnt a lot, so I\u2019m ready to come back and see what we can achieve,\u201d said Sweeny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContinuing with the team gives me real confidence heading into the new year, and I\u2019m looking forward to having Lochie alongside me as both a teammate and a benchmark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 Super2 Series begins at the Dunlop Sydney 500 on February 20-22.<\/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":"Blanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny at Mount Panorama. Image: InSyde Media He comes to BRT off the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,234162,91423,166927,806,805,803,804,9910,85],"class_list":["post-453543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bailey-sweeny","tag-blanchard-racing-team","tag-lochie-dalton","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-slot2","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453543","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=453543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}