The two factory Holden squads of the past three decades will pay tribute to the fallen brand with special liveries at the Repco Supercars championship finale in Adelaide.
Walkinshaw Andretti United, the factory Holden team during 1990-2016 (Walkinshaw’s team entered sporadically prior) and Triple Eight Race Engineering, which controversially took on the role from 2017 until the brand’s demise in 2020.
Adelaide signals the end of Holden in the Repco Supercars Championship as Gen3 marks the switch to the Chevrolet Camaro for General Motors teams, except for Walkinshaw Andretti United as it switches to Ford for the new era.
Holden ends on top as the most successful brand in Australian Touring Car Championship history courtesy of 615 race wins, 35 Bathurst 1000 wins and many other accolades.
Walkinshaw Andretti United arguably led Holden’s most successful era during the mid-1990s and early-2000s.
Triple Eight Race Engineering continued this when it took the mantle in 2017 to win three titles and multiple Bathurst victories, including this year’s event.
It’s fitting Holden finishes its racing career in Adelaide as the last Australian made model rolled off the production line at the Elizabeth circuit in 2017, October 20 to be exact.
WAU’s Team Principal Bruce Stewart is targeting a fairytale result for both his team and the brand it holds a long, distinguished history with.
“We are really excited to show off our HRT tribute livery in Adelaide,” Stewart told Supercars.com.
“As a team, we want to send Holden and the lion off in the final race in the right manner, and we’re sure the fans are going to love it.
“It’s been a special relationship this team has shared with Holden for over three decades.
“While I can’t give too much away, it will pay homage our history together.
“There’s no mistaking we want to be the last Holden winner in Supercars, and Adelaide is a really fitting place to send it off.”
But WAU will have a fight on its hands as Stewart’s opposite at Triple Eight Race Engineering Jamie Whincup has steered winners for Holden at Adelaide and is the brand’s most successful driver.
“It’s the last time a Holden vehicle will be on the track in Supercars,” Whincup told Supercars.com.
“We thought it would be fitting to do a livery, and more so in Adelaide as well.
“Adelaide is a big part of the Holden culture, with the plant at Elizabeth a significant part of Holden’s legacy in Australia.
“Those two factors have led to us to do something special, and we’ll reveal that next week in Adelaide.”