Team 18 to lead Chevrolet’s new era

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 11 April 2025

Team 18 has been confirmed as the new homologation partner of Chevrolet Racing to steer GM into a new Supercars era.

After much speculation, General Motors made the significant announcement on the Friday of the Taupo Super440, the third round of the 2025 Supercars Championship.

Whilst Team 18 will spearhead the assault, it will be in a different guise to what has been previously seen as GM will “form a new alliance” with all its Camaro running teams on and off the track.

Chevrolet’s Chris Payne and Jess Bala with Team 18’s Charlie Schwerkolt and Adrian Burgess at Team 18’s Mount Waverley base. Image: Mark Horsburgh

This not only includes the Supercars teams, but also GM Motorsport’s technical recourses in the USA which houses engineering, AI, machine learning, simulations and more.

A key part of the announcement was also the confirmation that KRE Race Engines will remain exclusively with Chevrolet after Triple Eight tried to take it with them to Ford.

At this stage Team 18, Erebus Motorsport, Matt Stone Racing, PremiAir and Brad Jones Racing are set to race Camaros in 2026, but the latter two teams have been rumoured to switch and are currently “considering options.”

Anton De Pasquale driving the #18 Camaro at Albert Park. Image: Mark Horsburgh

It is not only a major moment for GM, but also for Charlie Schwerkolt’s Team 18.

Just 11 years ago former DJR partner Schwerkolt went alone and formed his own team in Supercars as a customer to FPR (now Tickford) before switching to Holden in 2015.

Having initially represented GM as a customer to Walkinshaw, Team 18 broke free as a standalone outfit a year later.

As recently as 2019 it was just a one-car operation and now the Mount Waverley squad will follow in the footsteps of the most successful teams ever, Holden Racing Team and Triple Eight, as GM’s homologation team.

Team 18 celebrates its only Supercars win at Darwin in 2013 thanks to Mark Winterbottom. Image: Mark Horsburgh

Having took a breakthrough win in Darwin 2023, the team hopes to build in 2025 with new recruit Anton De Pasquale getting off to a solid start alongside veteran David Reynolds, while numerous Chevrolet representatives were at its season launch opening its Mount Waverley headquarters back in February.

“Today marks an exciting new chapter for Team 18 Racing,” Schwerkolt said.

“There is no doubt that these are big shoes to fill, but I believe we have the team, the machinery, and the talent to do it.

“GM and Chevrolet Racing are a powerhouse for a reason, and everyone, at every level, has been fantastic in welcoming our team to the fold.

“I know we share the same vision, and the same goal — to work closely with GM and all the other Chevy teams to see a Chevrolet Camaro cross the line first every race weekend.”

Triple Eight has been GM’s factory partner since 2017. Image: Supplied

The new partnership with Team 18 represents a bold new era for GM and continues the brand’s strong history in the sport that currently includes 668 championship race wins.

GM’s key players make it clear that it believes more success is possible with a new homologation team that has one previous race win in its short history.

“Our motorsport activities around the world are driven by three things; our passionate customers and fans, our cutting-edge technical innovation, and our incredible people.,” says Dr. Eric Warren, Executive Director of Global Motorsports Competition.

“Whether it’s Supercars, or any other race series that Chevrolet competes in across the globe, we are there to win, and we’re looking forward to working with Team 18 and all the Chevy Camaro teams in any way we can, to achieve that goal.”

“GM has had an incredible 60-plus-year history of success in Supercars racing in Australia and New Zealand, and we know that Supercars fans love the Chevrolet brand”, Jess Bala, Managing Director GM Australia and New Zealand says.

“Participation in Supercars also enables us to showcase our GMSV portfolio, which includes the purpose-built Silverado, the performance of the Corvette range, and the new GMC Yukon Denali, which will be launched in the coming months.

“But we also just love the series, the excitement, the fans, and the racing.”

Image: Mark Horsburgh

Taupo Super440

Practice 1 – 1: A. Heimgartner 1:26.8830 2: Anton De Pasquale +0.0258 3: Matt Payne +0.0830

Practice 2 – 1: Ryan Wood 1:25.9778; 2: Brodie Kostecki +0.0435; 3: Thomas Randle +0.0838

Sat 8.25-8.55: Supercars Race 8 Qualifying

Sat 9.05-9.35: Supercars Race 9 Qualifying

Sat 10.50: Supercars Race 8 (37 laps)

Sat 14.05: Supercars Race 9 (37 laps)

Sun 8.35-9.05: Supercars Race 10 Qualifying

Sun 10.50-11.35: Supercars Race 10 Top 10 Shootout

Sun 13.05: Supercars Race 10 (61 laps)

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Team 18 to lead Chevrolet’s new era

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