Team 18

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Team 18
Team 18 Logo.png
ManufacturerHolden
Team PrincipalCharlie Schwerkolt
Team ManagerSteve Henderson
Race Drivers18. Mark Winterbottom
20. Scott Pye
Race Engineers18. Manuel Sanchez
20. Richard Hollway
ChassisZB Commodore
Debut2013
Drivers' Championships0
Round wins0
Pole positions1
2020 position6th (3122 pts)

Team 18 (formerly known as Charlie Schwerkolt Racing) is an Australian motor racing team[1] currently competing in the Supercars Championship, running two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye.

History[]

Background[]

The team is owned by Gold Coast businessman Charlie Schwerkolt, who previously had a shareholding in Dick Johnson Racing. The relationship between Schwerkolt and Dick Johnson broke down at the end of 2010, the year James Courtney won the championship for the team. As part of the split Schwerkolt retained ownership of one of the two Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECs).[2]

Schwerkolt had attempted to conclude a deal to run a fourth car out of Ford Performance Racing with Courtney driving, but after Courtney signed to drive with the Holden Racing Team, the deal collapsed.[3] The REC was instead leased to Dick Johnson Racing for James Moffat's entry for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.[2]

Satellite team[]

The Ford FG Falcon as driven in 2014 by Jack Perkins
Holden Commodore ZB driven by Lee Holdsworth for Team 18 in the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship

With the rules governing the use of Racing Entitlement Contracts dictating that Schwerkolt could only lease his to one party for two years, he either had to sell it, lease it to another party, or use it himself. Schwerkolt decided on the latter and came to an agreement with Ford Performance Racing to operate a fully supported customer car as a satellite of the main FPR team in much the same manner as Rod Nash Racing.[4] Alex Davison drove the Jeld-Wen supported car in 2013,[5] taking one podium at the Phillip Island event and finishing the season in 13th. In 2014, Jack Perkins replaced Davison but could only manage 23rd in the championship.[6]

For 2015, Lee Holdsworth became the team's driver.[7] The team had originally intended to remain in their existing relationship with Ford Performance Racing (now known as Tickford Racing), but they were replaced by Super Black Racing as the Ford team's second customer partnership. Instead, the team became a satellite team to the Holden Racing Team, and ran a Holden VF Commodore.[8] Holdsworth finished 14th in the championship.

Independent team[]

In 2016, Team 18 began operating as an independent entity using a Triple Eight Race Engineering-built Commodore. Jeff Grech, the former Holden Racing Team team manager from 1993 to 2006, became team manager with backing from Preston Hire. It was a difficult season for the outfit, with Holdsworth suffering a major accident at the Darwin event, leaving him with a fractured pelvis and out of action for three rounds. He was replaced with Kurt Kostecki for Townsville and Ipswich (having borrowed the teenagers' Development Series chassis) and Karl Reindler for Sydney Motorsport Park. The team did not fare well in Holdsworth's return for the Enduro Cup either, retiring from the Bathurst 1000 after two laps with a broken rocker, as well as one of the Gold Coast 600 races after Reindler crashed exiting turn three. The team finished 15th in the teams' championship, beating only Britek Motorsport and the 'Supergirls' wildcard.

Holdsworth remained at the team for 2017, starting with two midfield finishes at the Adelaide 500 before being involved in a high-speed crash with Nick Percat at the non-championship round at the Australian Grand Prix, after Percat lost braking entering turn one. The team avoided the multi-car pile-up in Tasmania, however, were caught out in the changeable conditions on the Sunday, finishing 17th. The team continued to run midfield throughout the season, Holdsworth ending the season 16th in the standings with a best result of 4th on the Saturday at the Newcastle 500. Holdsworth did not finish in the top ten again until one year later in Newcastle, enduring a difficult 2018 campaign that was hampered by reliability issues, ending up in 21st in the championship.[9]

Ahead of the 2019 Supercars Championship, the team acquired the services of 2015 series champion Mark Winterbottom, in what became a switch of seats with Holdsworth going to Tickford Racing.[9] As part of Winterbottom's arrival, the team also re-branded with backing from Stanley Black & Decker's Irwin Industrial Tools, hired new staff including team manager Steve Henderson and engineer Phil Keed and upgraded their customer relationship with Triple Eight Race Engineering.[10] The changes brought an immediate upturn in results with two top-ten finishes at the Adelaide 500 before Winterbottom took the team's first pole position at the Tasmania SuperSprint.[11] In 2020 the team will expand to two cars with a second REC purchased from Kelly Racing, again with backing from Stanley Black & Decker, this time from their DeWalt brand with Scott Pye recruited from Walkinshaw Andretti United.[12]

Supercars Championship drivers[]

The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Supercars Championship, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.

Complete Bathurst 1000 results[]

Year No. Car Drivers Position Laps
2013 18 Ford Falcon FG Australia Alex Davison
New Zealand John McIntyre
13th 161
2014 18 Ford Falcon FG Australia Jack Perkins
Australia Cameron Waters
12th 161
2015 18 Holden Commodore VF Australia Lee Holdsworth
France Sébastien Bourdais
9th 161
2016 18 Holden Commodore VF Australia Lee Holdsworth
Australia Karl Reindler
DNF 2
2017 18 Holden Commodore VF Australia Lee Holdsworth
Australia Karl Reindler
DNF 76
2018 18 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Lee Holdsworth
Australia Jason Bright
21st 157
2019 18 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Mark Winterbottom
New Zealand Steven Richards
6th 161
2020 18 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Mark Winterbottom
Australia James Golding
8th 161
20 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Scott Pye
Australia Dean Fiore
6th 161
2021 18 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Mark Winterbottom
Australia Michael Caruso
20 Holden Commodore ZB Australia Scott Pye
Australia James Golding
DNF 3

Car results[]

Car No. 18 results[]

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Position Pts
2015 Lee Holdsworth Holden 18 ADE
R1

9
ADE
R2

10
ADE
R3

Ret
SYM
R4

22
SYM
R5

11
SYM
R6

16
BAR
R7

14
BAR
R8

14
BAR
R9

17
WIN
R10

18
WIN
R11

Ret
WIN
R12

15
HID
R13

13
HID
R14

18
HID
R15

18
TOW
R16

13
TOW
R17

7
QLD
R18

15
QLD
R19

21
QLD
R20

18
SMP
R21

14
SMP
R22

7
SMP
R23

13
SAN
QR

7
SAN
R24

7
BAT
R25

9
SUR
R26

Ret
SUR
R27

14
PUK
R28

13
PUK
R29

16
PUK
R30

8
PHI
R31

16
PHI
R32

18
PHI
R33

Ret
SYD
R34

18
SYD
R35

10
SYD
R36

7
14th 1699
2016 ADE
R1

23
ADE
R2

21
ADE
R3

18
SYM
R4

12
SYM
R5

9
PHI
R6

15
PHI
R7

19
BAR
R8

15
BAR
R9

12
WIN
R10

10
WIN
R11

Ret
HID
R12

8
HID
R13

Ret
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
SMP
R18
SMP
R19
SAN
QR

15
SAN
R20

12
BAT
R21

Ret
SUR
R22

Ret
SUR
R23

7
PUK
R24

15
PUK
R25

19
PUK
R26

14
PUK
R27

15
SYD
R28

16
SYD
R29

15
24th 1114
Kurt Kostecki ADE
R1
ADE
R2
ADE
R3
SYM
R4
SYM
R5
PHI
R6
PHI
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
WIN
R10
WIN
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14

25
TOW
R15

Ret
QLD
R16

23
QLD
R17

21
SMP
R18
SMP
R19
SAN
R20
BAT
R21
SUR
R22
SUR
R23
PUK
R24
PUK
R25
PUK
R26
PUK
R27
SYD
R28
SYD
R29
55th 108
Karl Reindler ADE
R1
ADE
R2
ADE
R3
SYM
R4
SYM
R5
PHI
R6
PHI
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
WIN
R10
WIN
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
SMP
R18

22
SMP
R19

23
SAN
R20
BAT
R21
SUR
R22
SUR
R23
PUK
R24
PUK
R25
PUK
R26
PUK
R27
SYD
R28
SYD
R29
45th 309
2017 Lee Holdsworth ADE
R1

13
ADE
R2

18
SYM
R3

12
SYM
R4

17
PHI
R5

22
PHI
R6

5
BAR
R7

15
BAR
R8

20
WIN
R9

11
WIN
R10

10
HID
R11

10
HID
R12

12
TOW
R13

11
TOW
R14

15
QLD
R15

12
QLD
R16

20
SMP
R17

15
SMP
R18

15
SAN
QR

12
SAN
R19

8
BAT
R20

Ret
SUR
R21

Ret
SUR
R22

8
PUK
R23

10
PUK
R24

Ret
NEW
R25

4
NEW
R26

8
16th 1647
2018 ADE
R1

12
ADE
R2

24
MEL
R3

19
MEL
R4

15
MEL
R5

19
MEL
R6

23
SYM
R7

11
SYM
R8

23
PHI
R9

22
PHI
R10

25
BAR
R11

23
BAR
R12

18
WIN
R13

23
WIN
R14

21
HID
R15

21
HID
R16

Ret
TOW
R17

18
TOW
R18

15
QLD
R19

24
QLD
R20

21
SMP
R21

12
BEN
R22

20
BEN
R23

Ret
SAN
QR

21
SAN
R24

23
BAT
R25

21

15

C
PUK
R28

15
PUK
R29

14
NEW
R30

12
NEW
R31

9
21st 1443
2019 Mark Winterbottom ADE
R1

9
ADE
R2

6
MEL
R3

12
MEL
R4

11
MEL
R5

13
MEL
R6

6
SYM
R7

4
SYM
R8

6
PHI
R9

21
PHI
R10

17
BAR
R11

18
BAR
R12

15
WIN
R13

9
WIN
R14

22
HID
R15

17
HID
R16

12
TOW
R17

9
TOW
R18

Ret
QLD
R19

15
QLD
R20

10
BEN
R21

4
BEN
R22

23
PUK
R23

22
PUK
R24

8
BAT
R25

6

12

19
SAN
QR

15
SAN
R28

12
NEW
R29

10
NEW
R30

14
13th 2092
2020 ADE
R1

8
ADE
R2

11
MEL
R3

C
MEL
R4

C
MEL
R5

C
MEL
R6

C
SMP1
R7

9
SMP1
R8

8
SMP1
R9

5
SMP2
R10

10
SMP2
R11

14
SMP2
R12

6

4

11

7

11

9

4

12

17

10

14

9

13

17

15

Ret

8

12

16
BAT
R31

8
10th 1566
2021 BAT
R1

4
BAT
R2

5

4

11

10

7

7

11






HID
R15

HID
R16

HID
R17

TOW
R18

TOW
R19







BAT
R26






6th* 587*

Car No. 20 results[]

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Position Pts
2020 Scott Pye Holden 20 ADE
R1

15
ADE
R2

Ret
MEL
R3

C
MEL
R4

C
MEL
R5

C
MEL
R6

C
SMP1
R7

17
SMP1
R8

11
SMP1
R9

12
SMP2
R10

12
SMP2
R11

21
SMP2
R12

5

3

16

22

13

3

3

9

9

6

9

6

5

7

13

6

12

19

12
BAT
R31

6
9th 1586
2021 BAT
R1

19
BAT
R2

8

12

8

22

8

9

14






HID
R15

HID
R16

HID
R17

TOW
R18

TOW
R19







BAT
R26






13th* 428*

References[]

  1. ^ "IRWIN Racing & DEWALT Racing". Supercars. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Charlie Schwerkolt sells his share of DJR Speedcafe 3 December 2010
  3. ^ Courtney: Thanks for the title, now see you later Sydney Morning Herald 12 December 2010
  4. ^ FPR, Schwerkolt join forces for 2013 Speedcafe 21 May 2012
  5. ^ Alex Davison secures fourth FPR seat Speedcafe 10 December 2012
  6. ^ Jack Perkins confirmed for full-time V8 rebirth Speedcafe 9 December 2013
  7. ^ "Lee Holdsworth switches to CSR in 2015". Speedcafe. 13 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Walkinshaw Racing confirm Schwerkolt and Holdsworth move". Holden Motorsport. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  9. ^ a b Bartholomaeus, Stefan (21 December 2018). "Holdsworth secures Bottle-O Mustang drive". Supercars. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  10. ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (23 November 2018). "More 'big changes' behind Winterbottom Team 18 deal". Supercars.
  11. ^ Howard, Tom (6 April 2019). "Winterbottom: Tassie pole 'proudest moment for a long time'". Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Supercars confirms entries for 2020 season". Speedcafe. 18 October 2019.
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