Craig Lowndes is set to make a significant move to Team 18 for the upcoming season, marking an exciting new chapter in his racing career.
Transition to Team 18
As confirmed last week, the Supercheap Auto wildcard program led by Lowndes will transition from Triple Eight to Team 18 in 2026. This shift comes as Team 18 elevates its status to a GM homologation team, a change prompted by Triple Eight’s switch to Ford. Team 18 has announced its intention to field its second Gen3 chassis, T18-002, for Lowndes and his yet-to-be-named co-driver next year. This chassis, like the rest of Team 18’s fleet, was constructed at the team’s Melbourne headquarters using a chassis supplied by Triple Eight.
Chassis Details and Preparation
T18-002 was previously driven by Mark Winterbottom during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where it achieved the team’s only race win at Hidden Valley in the inaugural year of the Gen3 regulations. Following the rollout of a new vehicle for Winterbottom’s replacement, Anton De Pasquale, T18-002 is currently a spare and is being prepared for wind tunnel testing in the United States scheduled for December.
Upcoming Wind Tunnel Testing
“The car will be virtually a brand-new car, but it’ll also get its first gig going to the wind tunnel at the end of the year,” confirmed team owner Charlie Schwerkolt to Speedcafe. “That’s the car we’ll use next year [for the wildcard], a fully built-up car, nothing wrong with it, fresh engine, exactly the same as our program.” Team 18 is responsible for supplying a Camaro for the wind tunnel test, while Triple Eight and Walkinshaw Andretti United will represent Ford and Toyota respectively.
Due to a cost-effective decision by Supercars to sea freight the cars to the U.S., teams must provide their vehicles by late September to meet shipping deadlines. The inclusion of the Mustang has led Triple Eight to revise its initial track test plans, with its nearly complete first chassis now intended for the wind tunnel instead. Meanwhile, WAU’s first Toyota Supra is expected to commence track testing in the coming weeks, as the team works on a second chassis for the U.S.
Staffing for the Wildcard
Schwerkolt noted that planning is underway for staffing the Team 18 wildcard, which will participate in the enduros and one sprint event with Lowndes’ co-driver. “It’s only for three weekends, so it’ll be more of a ‘weekend warrior’ type of thing,” Schwerkolt explained regarding the crew for the car. “We’ll take a couple of people from the main game if we can, we’ll gear up for it and make it work and do it properly.”
Interestingly, the Triple Eight Camaro that was sent to the Windshear wind tunnel in 2023 was initially slated to be driven by Lowndes as the Supercheap wildcard in the 2024 endurance events. However, a crash involving Cooper Murray during his Hidden Valley wildcard appearance resulted in that chassis being sidelined, and it now serves as a display piece in T8’s engineering office. The Mustang used in the wind tunnel in 2023 was acquired by Ford from Dick Johnson Racing and remains in the United States.