WINTERBOTTOM REVEALS HIS 2020 IRWIN RACING SUPERCAR

MEDIA RELEASE/Irwin Racing – Photos: supplied

Mark Winterbottom has revealed his #18 IRWIN Racing Holden Commodore ZB for the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

The Commodore, run by Melbourne-based Team 18, has been dressed in the iconic IRWIN Tools blue and yellow theme, driven by the 2015 Supercars champion and 2013 Bathurst 1000 winner.

The car features a majority of partners that have continued their support for the team including Bunnings Warehouse, Fuchs Lubricants, Hino Trucks, Actron Air, Toyota Material Handling, Kenworth and a new-for-2020 sponsor in Goodyear among a strong group of commercial partners.

This season marks the second season that former Ford hero Winterbottom will drive the IRWIN Racing Commodore, continuing in the ex-Triple Eight chassis he raced last year. 

Winterbottom’s 2019 highlights included a pole position at Symmons Plains in Tasmania and an equal-best race result of fourth at both Symmons Plains and The Bend Motorsport Park.

As previously announced, Team 18’s engineering squad will continue to be lead by the experienced Phil Keed, while Winterbottom welcomes a new race engineer in ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport recruit Manuel Sanchez (Race Engineer) and Mark Sylvester (Data Engineer).

Winterbottom will hit the track in the IRWIN Racing Holden ZB Commodore for the BP Ultimate SuperTest at The Bend Motorsport Park on February 18, before Round 1 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at the Superloop Adelaide 500 on February 20-23.

Mark Winterbottom – Driver, #18 IRWIN Racing Holden ZB Commodore

“It’s great to reveal the new look for the IRWIN Racing Commodore for the 2020 season,” said Mark Winterbottom.

“To start 2020 with something I know, the same partners and the same team, we can carry it forward and I’m looking forward to putting it into practice this year. 

“2019 was a very new year for me swapping over from Ford to Holden. I definitely feel a lot more comfortable now and although the team has expanded in the off-season, we’ve retained a lot of the same crew and complimented them with some new people. 

“The Supercars Championship is such a tough category. Every year you have to improve or be left behind, so hopefully there is a good year coming up with the package we have put together.

“At the start of the year everyone wants to win and that’s instinct from a driver. Inconsistency let us down last year. We got pole position in Tasmania last year and then we qualified 20th at Phillip Island so we need to make sure our good tracks remain strong and our troubling tracks become better.

“It’s been a busy off-season for Team 18, but we’re really confident heading into this year that we can perform better.

“Everyone has worked really hard and I want to get the IRWIN Racing Commodore at the front to reward the team for their efforts.”

Charlie Schwerkolt – Owner, Team 18

“It’s a new, revamped look for the IRWIN Racing Commodore which has more yellow, more blue and reversed some of the colours around, and we’re really excited to get it on the track for the 2020 season,” said Charlie Schwerkolt.

“It is great to have IRWIN Tools backing Team 18 again in 2020. IRWIN is a major brand of Stanley Black & Decker and it is exclusively available at Bunnings Warehouse. We have a fantastic partnership with some exciting activations planned again with the IRWIN Ultimate Tradie Challenge.

“It is also great to have Mark Winterbottom back with the team in 2020. He is an amazing guy and a champion driver. We all know how well he can drive, he’s won Bathurst, he’s won the championship, and he’s been the foundation of the rebuild of Team 18.”

Daniel Keyse – Brand Director, Stanley Black & Decker

“We are excited to be back for another year with Team 18 and IRWIN Racing and we’re looking forward to seeing some great results,” said Daniel Keyse.

“Charlie, Mark and the whole team at IRWIN Racing are dedicated to building a strong brand presence for IRWIN, from the new car livery, Mark’s involvement with our IRWIN advertising and the Ultimate Tradie Challenge activations at Bunnings Warehouse stores and the Supercar races.

“This year we will work even closer with the team to promote the IRWIN brand, available at Bunnings Warehouse.”

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