Tickford keeps four car Supercars Ford line-up via 2019 23Red deal

23Red will move into Tickford's workshop, building on a customer relationship that started with the single-car squad buying a Tickford chassis for Davison to race this season.

It also restores Tickford's status as a four-car team, the 23Red entry replacing the Tickford-owned Racing Entitlements Contract that was handed back as of the end of the current Supercars season.

"We're excited to have 23Red Milwaukee Racing join Tickford Racing from 2019," said Tickford co-owner Rod Nash.

"We've built a strong relationship with them over the past year, and we expect to continue to build on that as we bring our teams together.

"We think his involvement will help us get back to the success we're accustomed to having and we look forward to achieving that success together."

Owner Phil Munday started 23Red Racing by buying an LD Motorsport REC at the end of last year, before signing star driver Davison and main sponsor Milwaukee Tools.

In a difficult season for Tickford hardware, Davison ended the season 15th in the standings but ahead of two Tickford regulars Cam Waters and Richie Stanaway.

According to Munday, the Tickford tie-up is about taking the next step while retaining the identity of his own squad.

"As a new team owner, I came into this sport to strive for continuous improvement and establish 23Red Racing in the series," Munday said.

"But being a single-car team it is extremely challenging to achieve top results.

"With this in mind, I have decided to join forces with Tickford Racing as a customer to ensure we can continue to grow and achieve higher success."

Davison had a three-year stint with what was then known as Ford Performance Racing, commencing in 2011 and ending with third in the series in '13 (pictured).

"Having Will back is great for all of us," added Nash. "He's obviously done some great things in our cars in the past and has shown when given a strong car he can still compete.

"We look forward to giving him the opportunity to have more success in our garage from 2019."

Tickford Racing is no stranger to using a customer REC as a fourth entry, having fielded a car for Charlie Schwerkolt Racing in 2013 and '14 before running the Super Black Racing entry in 2015 and '16.

For the 2017 season Jason Bright moved his own REC over to Tickford as a fourth car, before being ousted at the end of the year to make way for Tickford's own fourth REC - purchased from LD Motorsport to run Richie Stanaway.

Handing back a REC for 2019 opened the door for the 23Red deal to come together.

The driver line-up is yet to be sorted, with question marks over Stanaway's future with the team.

It is understood that Lee Holdsworth and Jack Le Brocq are favourites to replace Stanaway if he and the team split.