TICKFORD SECURES FOURTH REC
By Dan McCarthy
Date posted: 18 June 2021
Supercars has announced that Tickford Racing has been successful in its bid for a fourth Racing Entitlements Contract (REC), and will run quartet of cars in 2022.
The Championship confirmed that the 2022 season will feature a 25-car grid, meaning the Matt Stone Racing outfit has been unsuccessful in its bid for a third REC.
Tickford previously ran a four-car operation from 2013 until 2020 but was forced to downsize to three this year, however next year the Ford team will return to run no less than four machines.
With Cameron Waters, Jack Le Brocq and James Courtney remaining at the team this year, the downsize forced Supercars veteran Lee Holdsworth onto the side-lines.
While Matt Stone Racing misses out, Tickford team principal Tim Edwards expressed his delight in returning to a four-car squad.
“We’ve previously ran four cars of our own, and we’ve run customer cars as fourth cars,” Edwards told Supercars.com.
“Most recently with Phil Munday, then what happened with him in 2020, we dropped back to three cars this year.
“Our business is built around being a four-car model, whether it’s four of our own, or three of our own with a customer in-house.”
“Our business is built around being a four-car model…
“We’ve got a big facility in Melbourne, and great engineering production infrastructure, and it’s geared around running a larger operation
“It’s been our goal to go back to four cars, and obviously the tender came about.
“We jumped in, and here we are.”
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer congratulated the Victorian team on its successful REC bid, and is pleased to see the grid size grow.
“We are delighted to see the grid expand for the 2022 season,” Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.
“We congratulate Tickford on its successful bid, and we wish them luck in their preparation for next season.
“Supercars received interest from several parties to purchase the RECs, proving there is a desire to expand our championship.
“We look forward to seeing more cars on the grid as we welcome Gen3 in 2022.”
This is a very positive sign for Tickford protégé Thomas Randle who is expected to take the seat, the reigning Super2 Series winner is racing for the team in selected rounds (including this weekend in Darwin) as a Wildcard, before he contests the Bathurst 1000 as a co-driver.
Randle had secured a seat at Tickford Racing to race in the Supercars Championship this season, however the REC shortage at Tickford forced Randle to sit on the bench for much of the season.
In his first Wildcard six weeks ago at The Bend Motorsport Park, Randle finished eighth and matched the Tickford regulars throughout the weekend.
None of the three current Tickford Racing drivers, Cameron Waters, Jack Le Brocq or James Courtney are contracted to race for the team next season and could see a reshuffling of drivers.
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