BJR’s eponymous Supercars team owner Brad Jones. Image: Richard Gresham
The team’s #8 Andre Heimgartner and #14 Cam Hill Supras will hit the track exactly a week out from the preseason test at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The Albury-based team has made the shift from Chevrolet to newcomer Toyota this year, joining homologation team Walkinshaw TWG Racing in the Supra fold.
“The guys have done an amazing job to build the three cars in the time they’ve had,” Jones told Speedcafe.
“Whenever you are building new cars and changing brands, it’s really stressful, especially at the end when there’s little things that you’ve never seen before pop up.
“But my guys are fantastic and everyone there has been working to get whatever we need done, done – and we’re at the point where we’re in a position to shake down a couple of cars.”
BJR’s shakedowns will come a week after the team finally received its first Toyota engine – couriered down from Brisbane by its truck driver.
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While the Walkinshaw-controlled engine program has clearly run late, Jones said the timing of the shakedowns is “not entirely” due to one factor.
“Obviously the engines are a little bit later than any of us would like,” he said.
“But honestly, it’s a lot of work when they come out of the wind tunnel [in December] and they have to do the sills and the front bar and the rear bar and diffuser…
“No one had been making any of that stuff in case it changed in the wind tunnel. And then it’s Christmas, New Year and a flurry.
“It’s just a mix of things, really, waiting for panels and engines. But we’ve got all the bits we need now, so it’s just a case of putting it all together, giving it a wheel alignment and getting ready to go racing.”
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The big question is how the Supras will perform against their Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang opposition when the season begins in Sydney next week.
Supercars undertook a brief on-track engine parity analysis at Queensland Raceway on Monday and will again test cars from all three marques at this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
Jones admits the performance of the Supras on rollout is a major unknown.
“I don’t think we’ll know until Friday [in Sydney],” he said.
“Whenever you have a change in shape, you just don’t know how you’re going to go against the other manufacturers, as well as against the others running the same car.
“It’s always like this, but it’s a very anxious time. I’m comfortable that no matter where we bounce out, we’ll get on top of it, but to try and predict what’s going to happen, it’d just be a guess.”
BJR will run three Supras this season, with Heimgartner and Hill in new builds and Macauley Jones in a chassis that previously raced as a Camaro.
