Holden runs next-gen Commodore Supercar shakedown

Holden has revealed images and details of the next generation Commodore Supercar’s first shakedown, which took place over 60km at Norwell Motorplex in South-East Queensland.

Triple Eight Race Engineering, in conjunction with Holden, completed the testing after a 10-month computer-aided design, development, and build program.

Though the car has Shane Van Gisbergen’s name on the window, it was Jamie Whincup in the driver’s seat for the duration of the shakedown.

He said the lightly test-camouflaged car performed well enough that he feels it’s almost ready.

“The team’s been burning the midnight oil behind the scenes for this moment when we finally get to bring the brand new Commodore to the track and test it for the first time,” Whincup said after the test.

“So far it feels fantastic. The work that they’ve done behind the scenes to this point, in my opinion we’re 99 per cent there.

“There’s just some fine-tuning that’s got to go on in the next few weeks and the next few months until we unleash the full version in 2018.”

Triple Eight head-honcho Roland Dane was also present, as the man who’s overseen a large portion of the car’s development.

“The overall look of the car is quite different from anything we’ve had before, so it’s been a big but exciting task, and we’re relishing the opportunity to get on track to see how we’ve done.

“The team’s had to work incredibly hard this year in order to compete on track with the current VF Commodore, but also work flat out on the new car.

“By the time we get to the end of this year, the development process will have taken up about 20,000 hours.”

Dane has also said he’d like to run the car with the next-gen V6 engine during the 2018 round, as a wildcard entry and a comparison to the V8s.

The ZB Commodore-based Supercar will debut at the Adelaide 500 in March 2018, around the same time as the road car is released.