{"id":1067,"date":"2025-09-04T10:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T10:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/1067\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T10:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T10:58:10","slug":"supercars-news-three-manufacturers-a-comfortable-number-for-supercars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/1067\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Three manufacturers a \u2018comfortable number\u2019 for Supercars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Three
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Warburton addresses the room at the Bathurst 1000 launch. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n

The new Gen3-specification Supra has hit the track for the first time at Winton this week<\/a> after a reveal as part of Supercars\u2019 Bathurst 1000 launch in Sydney on Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n

Toyota\u2019s impending arrival onto the grid alongside Ford and GM is decades in the making and a major shot in the arm for the series, adding the clout of the world\u2019s biggest car brand.<\/p>\n

That has triggered suggestions it could make Supercars more attractive to other car companies, particularly smaller challenger brands looking to gain a foothold in the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you never say never to those types of conversations, but realistically, it\u2019s difficult to manage all the different manufacturers,\u201d Warburton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a grid size around 24 TRCs (Teams Racing Charters required to enter a car)\u2026 so, I think for us, the three brands is a very, very comfortable number.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all leaning into the sport and all very focused on the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s a relatively open answer, but I think we\u2019re very focused on what we\u2019ve got and very, very happy with what we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toyota\u2019s arrival is a blessing for the series but will also bring another technical challenge as the performance of the Supra body and engine needs to be matched to the incumbents.<\/p>\n

Supercars has had a well-publicised and expensive battle to achieve parity between Ford and GM since moving to the Gen3 platform that, aside from manufacturer differences, is a spec car.<\/p>\n

The championship is currently dealing with a push to improve the Ford Mustangs ahead of the Bathurst 1000<\/a>, which GM is understood to oppose.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The GR Supra was revealed in Sydney on Monday. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n

Regardless, Warburton stressed the big-picture benefits of Toyota\u2019s entry which will be felt by far more than just Supra squads Walkinshaw Andretti United and Brad Jones Racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cToyota is one of the best marketers in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for the Supercars brand it\u2019s actually about extending into mainstream culture, with what these guys do in terms of getting out into mainstream culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL is a great example, what they\u2019ve done with the AFL (as its major sponsor) and the way in which the AFL talks about Toyota.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is a huge moment not only for the teams (WAU and BJR) but for the sport generally. It\u2019s a pretty exciting era that we\u2019re about to step into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warburton hinted the Toyota and Seven tie-ups will include the Gen3 Supra featuring outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the AFL Finals Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Warburton addresses the room at the Bathurst 1000 launch. Image: Supplied The new Gen3-specification Supra has hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1731,111,139,69,1732,213,1733],"class_list":["post-1067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-james-warburton","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-slot4","tag-sports","tag-toyota"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}