Triple Eight to race for Ford in Supercars
Ford has fired a huge shot in its looming Supercars war with Toyota by landing the best team in Australian racing.
Ford has poached the top team in Supercars ahead of Toyota’s racing debut in 2026.
The Red Bull-backed machines of Triple Eight Race Engineering will race for the blue oval in what promises to be a blockbuster season next year.
Jamie Whincup, seven time Supercars champion and Triple Eight team principal, said his outfit was attracted by Ford’s enormous investment in motorsport around the globe.
“What excites me most about our future together is the commitment Ford is demonstrating to our sport, to Triple Eight and to all Supercars fans through this long-term partnership,” he said.
“This is a huge strategic commitment that we are very proud to share.
“We’re very excited to be a part of the Ford Performance ecosystem and the potential opportunities this partnership will present.”
Ford is investing heavily in motorsport by going racing in NASCAR, Supercars, Dakar desert racing, sports car endurance racing and more – including its upcoming partnership with Red Bull Racing in Formula 1.
Andrew Birkic, President and chief executive of Ford Australia, said the link with Triple Eight is “a demonstration of Ford’s motorsport ambition, which is stronger than ever”.
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, said the partnership with Triple Eight was “about looking forward, about building a future together, and conquering
new challenges.”
The shock move follows the defection of Walkinshaw Andretti United and star driver Chaz Mostert from Ford to Toyota next year.
It threatens the dominance of Chevrolet, which has won every Supercars championship and Bathurst 1000 title since Holden left the sport at the end of 2022.
Ford stalwart Dick Johnson Racing already lured Brodie Kostecki, the 2023 series champion and 2024 Bathurst winner, away from Chevrolet for this season’s races.
Red Bull’s shift leaves a weakened Chevrolet with Erebus Racing, Team 18, Brad Jones Racing and Matt Stone Racing set to campaign Camaros from 2026.
Toyota has expressed an interest in converting a second team to join Walkinshaw with Supras next year.
Chevrolet, under the General Motors Special Vehicles banner, sells a tiny fraction of the enormous market share held by Toyota and Ford.
While Ford launched a new Mustang road car in 2024 that is expected to remain on sale for years to come, General Motors has stopped building the Camaro in the US, and GMSV finished importing Camaros before the racing model debuted in Newcastle in 2023.
The current “Gen 3” Ford Mustang Supercar developed by Dick Johnson Racing has struggled to match front-running Camaros at times.
Triple Eight will replace DJR as the top team responsible for designing and developing future racing versions of the Mustang in Australia.
Queensland-based Triple Eight won three Bathurst 1000 titles on the trot for Ford with Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes between 2006 and 2008, securing two championship titles for Whincup before the team switched to Holden.
The move also opens the door for Ford’s Mustang GT3 to take on the Bathurst 12 Hour with Triple Eight backing.
The team previously anchored regional GT racing for Mercedes-AMG, running cars in the 12 Hour and Australian GT Championship, among other series.
Triple Eight had been linked to a local race program for the Chevrolet Corvette.
Originally published as Triple Eight to race for Ford in Supercars
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