The last remaining Supercars Wildcard entry has been revealed as the Shell V-Power Racing Team took the covers off the Ford Mustang to be driven by Swiss ace Simona De Silvestro and rookie Kai Allen.
In a reversal scheme to its regular two Ford Mustangs to be shared by Will and Alex Davison, as well as Anton De Pasquale, who will share with Tony D’Alberto, the Wildcard entry is predominately yellow as it will race under the #98 in reference to the octane rating of Shell V-Power Unleaded.
After seven years with the squad as a design/performance/data engineer, Ed Williams makes the step up to the Race Engineer role as he leads a mix of youth matched by experience featuring Team Manager Mikey Flynn, Chief Engineer Perry Kapper and Technical Director Mark Fenning.
“It’s wonderful to finally be able to share this livery with the public,” said DJR Chief Executive Officer David Noble.
“It’s a standout design that we’re very proud of and we have no doubt it will look fantastic when it hits the track at Mount Panorama.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in the lead-up to this reveal around what the livery will look like, so we hope our fans agree that it looks spectacular and is going to catch their eye on the track.
“The wildcard programme has also been a great opportunity for us to create development programmes for up-and-coming talent in our engineering and mechanical teams; we look forward to seeing this come to fruition at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
“I’d like to thank our partners Viva Energy Australia, Rheem, Pivotel, WM Waste, Harvey Norman, National Tiles and PPQ for their support of the #98 Shell V-Power Mustang; the countdown to the Repco Bathurst 1000 is well and truly on.”
De Silvestro attended the Sandown 500 last weekend after missing a test at Queensland Raceway due to emergency appendix surgery, but another day is scheduled ahead of her sixth Bathurst campaign.
“We just saw the car for the first time, and it looks amazing,” said De Silvestro.
“It’s definitely going to stand out, it looks fast and aggressive, which is always a good thing!
“I think it’s going to look great going down Conrod Straight. I can’t wait to hit the track in the #98 Shell V-Power Mustang with Kai.”
It’s been an impressive maiden Dunlop Super2 season so far for Allen as he sits second entering the final two rounds at Bathurst and Adelaide.
“It’s super cool to see the #98 Shell V-Power Mustang all stickered up and ready to go; it’s going to stand out,” Allen said.
“I’m sure if we’re fast and put the pressure on it will fill up everyone’s mirrors with lots of yellow.
“I can’t wait to get out to QR [Queensland Raceway] and do some test days in it, then head down to Bathurst with Simona.”
Two test days will be completed by the duo at Queensland raceway before heading to the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.