French
DeutschBlanchard Racing Team
 | |
| Manufacturer | Ford |
|---|---|
| Team Principal | Tim Blanchard |
| Team Manager | Kate Harrington |
| Race Drivers | Supercars: 3. Aaron Love 7. James Courtney |
| Race Engineers | Supercars: 3. Chris Fitzgerald[1] 7. Matt Saunders[2] |
| Chassis | Mustang GT |
| Debut | 2017 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Round wins | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| 2023 position | 13th |
Blanchard Racing Team is an Australian motor racing team, currently competing in the Supercars Championship under the commercial title CoolDrive Auto Parts. It fields the Blanchard Racing-built No. 3 Ford Mustang GT, driven by Aaron Love, and the No. 7 entry, driven by James Courtney.
History
[edit]Customer Team
[edit]Tim Blanchard Racing was formed at the end of the 2016 season when Tim Blanchard purchased a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) from Super Black Racing with the aim of continuing in the Supercars Championship, after the Britek Motorsport REC that had underpinned Blanchard's entry was taken by owner Jason Bright to Prodrive Racing Australia.[3] Brad Jones Racing maintained the running of the entry.[4][5] In 2018, the team upgraded to the Holden ZB Commodore.
After Blanchard retired from full time driving at the end of 2018, Macauley Jones took over the driving.[6] For 2020, the team's race number was changed from No. 21 to No. 3.
Stand Alone Team
[edit]In 2021, after four seasons running as a satellite team of Brad Jones Racing, the team was renamed to Blanchard Racing Team and switched to a ex-23Red Racing Tickford-built Ford Mustang. Macauley Jones was replaced by Tim Slade.[7]
In 2022 Tim Slade and Tim Blanchard competed as the only single car team in the Supercars Championship finishing their 2nd full-time season finishing the championship in 11th position.
2023 saw the beginning of the new GEN3 rule and the Blanchard Racing Team entered their third year of full-time Supercars racing and were the first team to complete the build of the GEN3 regulation car. Todd Hazelwood was signed as the primary driver of the CoolDrive Racing Ford Mustang and co-driver was Tim Blanchard. 2023 Also saw BRT introduce a Super2 Category entry driven by Aaron Love.
In 2024 BRT expand to a two-car team with a combination of James Courtney will lead the driver line-up in car number 7. Aaron Love will step up from Super2 and drive the second of the BRT Gen3 Ford Mustangs in car number 3.
Supercars Championship history
[edit]Drivers
[edit]The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Supercars championship, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.
Tim Blanchard (2017–18, 2020–2023)- Todd Hazelwood (2017, 2023)
- Dale Wood (2018)
- Macauley Jones (2019–20)
- Dean Canto (2019)
- Tim Slade (2021–2022)
- Jake Kostecki (2023)
- Aaron Love (2023 - present)
- James Courtney (2024-present)
Car No. 3 results
[edit]Bathurst 1000 results
[edit]| Year | No. | Car | Drivers | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 21 | Holden Commodore VF |  Tim Blanchard Todd Hazelwood | 12th | 160 |
| 2018 | 21 | Holden Commodore ZB | Tim Blanchard Dale Wood | 18th | 159 |
| 2019 | 21 | Holden Commodore ZB | Macauley Jones Dean Canto | 16th | 160 |
| 2020 | 3 | Holden Commodore ZB | Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard | 13th | 161 |
| 2021 | 3 | Ford Mustang GT | Tim Slade Tim Blanchard | 9th | 161 |
| 2022 | 3 | Ford Mustang GT | Tim Slade Tim Blanchard | 19th | 161 |
| 2023 | 3 | Ford Mustang GT | Todd Hazelwood Tim Blanchard | DNF | 156 |
| 7 | Ford Mustang GT | Aaron Love Jake Kostecki | 19th | 160 | |
| 2024 | 3 | Ford Mustang GT | Aaron Love Aaron Cameron | 23rd | 160 |
| 7 | Ford Mustang GT | James Courtney Jack Perkins | 21st | 160 |
References
[edit]- ^ O'Brien, Connor (22 February 2024). "BRT signs race winning engineer". V8 Sleuth. AN1 Media. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ O'Brien, Connor (19 July 2024). "BRT swings pre-Sydney engineering change". V8 Sleuth. AN1 Media. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "Jason Bright Prodrive deal confirmed". Speedcafe. 5 December 2016.
- ^ "Blanchard to reassess driving future in 2017". Speedcafe. 2 December 2016.
- ^ "Blanchards purchase Super Black REC". Speedcafe. 2 December 2016.
- ^ "Macauley Jones graduates to Supercars for 2019". Speedcafe. 6 December 2018.
- ^ "CoolDrive Racing Launches New Supercars Team for 2021". Supercars. 14 December 2020.