Blanchard spreads to Super2 with Porsche star
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 16 November 2022
Porsche star Aaron Love has switched career paths to the Supercars world being the centre piece of Blanchard Racing Team’s new Super2 program.
Since finishing third in the 2018 Australian Formula 4 Championship, Love has been rapidly rising his way up the Porsche pyramid.
Racing for Sonic, he won 12 of the 17 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia races he contested to finish a close second in the championship behind Harri Jones despite missing the Winton and Darwin rounds.
Love was not present at those races because he was taking on the European stars at Porsche Supercup rounds in Silverstone and Paul Ricard which ran as support events for the British and French Grands Prix respectively.
The West Australian was expected to continue his progression in the Porsche scene and follow in the footsteps of fellow Australia export success Matt Campbell.
Aaron Love has been a winning machine in the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship.
However, the lure of racing in the Supercars Championship has pulled Love to take a giant leap in his career, securing a seat in a Gen2 CoolDrive Ford Mustang for the squad’s maiden Super2 campaign in 2023.
It could be the perfect timing for the 20-year-old to make the switch, with the opportunity possibly opening up many doors in the Supercars world.
Love may co-drive alongside Todd Hazelwood in the Enduros next year and even receive a promotion to the main game in 2024 if BRT expands to a two-car outfit.
Love said he cannot wait to take on a new chapter in his short, but successful career in the current BRT Ford Mustang chassis.
“After this year away racing in Europe it sparked a lot of questions within myself and where I want to end up racing, but it didn’t take me long to realise that I wanted to race at home and in Supercars,” said Love.
“The relationship with Tim and the whole BRT crew was already there with Sonic, so there hasn’t been much questioning from the start and as things have progressed it just made more and more sense, especially with the way they have been growing both on and off track.
Despite never having jumped into a Supercar before, Love believes the lessons learnt in and outside of Australia recently sets him up nicely for the challenge.
“I’m really excited for the new journey back in Australia and in an area so different for myself and my family; we’ve never dealt with the Supercar pathway or even a Supercar before,” he said.
“It will definitely be a challenge for myself and a new experience for the team racing in Super2, but I’m confident that we have all the tools and more to get us to where we need and want to be.
“The past year has been a huge learning and growing experience for me, and I wouldn’t change a thing knowing that it’s prepared me a lot for what is ahead.
“There are a couple of sticks and an extra pedal that I’ve got to figure out what they do, but I’ve got some of the best people behind me to show me the way and I can’t wait to get started.”
Aaron Love will drive the Ford Mustang next year Tim Slade has steered in the 2022 Supercars Championship.
The announcement is also a major sign of BRT’s development.
With Blanchard having teamed up with the likes of Brad Jones Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in the past, he spread his wings in 2021 and started his own single-car operation.
Tim Slade was the steerer and recorded a P12 championship finish on debut and this year is on track to improve that marker.
Next year BRT will enter Gen3 with young gun Todd Hazelwood behind the wheel and the possibility of one-time pole sitter pairing with a hit property such as Love could set the CoolDrive backed team up for many years to come.
Team owner Tim Blanchard said the announcement is a big step forward for the squad.
“We are excited to welcome a young talent like Aaron to BRT to contest the Super2 Series with us, he has dominated the rounds of the Carrera Cup he has competed in this year, and that is why we want him to be with us for years to come,” said Blanchard.
“This is an important step in the growth of BRT as we continue to expand with the hopes of moving to two cars in the main Supercars Championship in the near future.
“It is an opportunity to take a manageable step forward for our team without compromising our main series entry with Todd Hazelwood.
“We have been really impressed with Aaron to date, he has the right attitude and is really fast, the whole team can’t wait to see what he can do in a Supercar.”
Love and Hazelwood will both make their BRT debuts in Super2 and Supercars respectively at Newcastle from March 10-12 next year.
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of Auto Action.
AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.
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