Supercars: Tickford Racing has announced it will cut back from four cars to two cars for season 2024
Tickford Racing has sparked a Supercars grid shake-up for 2024 with a move that is set to level the playing field, and allow for the rise of a challenger.
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Tickford Racing has announced it will cut back from four to a two-car operation in Supercars from next season in a move which is set to further shake up the driver market.
The Ford squad said it had decided to run a two-car team in 2024 to focus its energy on its bid to become a championship-winning team again.
Tickford’s move to hand back two of its spots on the grid will allow the Blanchard Racing Team (BRT) to fulfil its wish of expanding its squad to two cars for 2024.
BRT was the only single-car team on the Supercars grid, which will now be cut back from 25 cars to 24 from next year.
The move also means two of Tickford’s four drivers will be looking for new homes for 2024.
Tickford has four drivers in this year’s championship – Cam Waters, Thomas Randle, James Courtney and rookie Declan Fraser.
Tickford team principal Tim Edwards has previously expressed his confidence in retaining Waters, who he said had a contract with the team for next year, while Courtney has been linked with a move to an expanded BRT.
It makes Randle’s breakthrough results in the last round at Tailem Bend timely after he claimed three consecutive podiums.
Edwards said the team’s motivation to cut back to two cars was to focus its resources in its bid to become a title-winning team again.
“Tickford Racing has committed to running a two-car team in the 2024 Supercars Championship,” Edwards said.
“The sole motivation behind the decision is to focus all the team’s energy and resources toward again becoming a championship-winning team in the 2024 season and beyond.
“The business has again been working on a number of strategic plans on how best to position Tickford Racing into the future for greater success in all its racing programs.
“The entire Tickford Racing team remains focused on the 2023 championship, especially as we head into the enduros, and maximising our results at the last four events of the year.”
Edwards said details about what the squad would look like in 2024 would be released in “due course”.
Tickford last won a Supercars championship in 2015 when Mark Winterbottom triumphed.
Waters is the best placed Tickford driver in this year’s championship, sitting sixth in the drivers’ standings.
It’s understood a 24-car grid was an optimal number for Supercars, making it more workable for freight as it returns to international travel with a round in New Zealand next year.
Tickford’s news comes as it was confirmed co-drivers would again be allowed to start at the Bathurst 1000 after last year’s early-race chaos.
The issue of co-drivers starting the Great Race came into sharp focus following carnage in the opening laps of last year’s race at Mount Panorama.
But the release of the Supplementary Regulations – the race rules – for the event makes no reference to any change relating to starting duties.
It means the status quo remains and teams will be able to choose whether they start with their main driver or co-driver to suit their race strategy.
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