Supercars confirms new manufacturer talks

Category CEO Sean Seamer first hinted that talks were underway by citing a non-disclosure agreement when quizzed on manufacturer interest earlier this month.

The likes of Toyota and VW were then floated as potential targets for Supercars, although the idea of serious talks with a new manufacturer was met with scepticism from a number of key sources.

Seamer has now offered a little more insight into a potential third make joining the series, confirming that there is indeed ongoing talks with at least one carmaker.

However he added that those talks aren't about a new make debuting in 2022 – something that would be complicated by the mid-season introduction of the new Gen3 rules.

"Those conversations are early, they are ongoing, I'm bound by an NDA and they are not for next year," said Seamer.

When asked if there were multiple new manufacturers potentially in play, Seamer added: "We will continue to engage all manufacturers in Australia on a regular basis.

"But the question that I've been continually asked is about one conversation in particular."

Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Ford is currently the only manufacturer with a full factory spend in Supercars, the Blue Oval having renewed its backing of the category when the Mustang was introduced for the 2019 season.

That meant there was briefly two fully-fledged manufacturers, before the demise of the Holden brand last year.

How General Motors will structure any level of factory support for the Gen3 Camaro programme is yet to be seen, although homologation team Triple Eight has been running Chevrolet Silverado logos on the inside of the rear wing endplates on its Commodores this season.

The last time the category underwent a major rule change back in 2013 it led to a number of new makes joining the series, Nissan and Volvo committing factory support while Erebus ran a customer Mercedes programme.