The Blanchard Racing Team has squashed suggestions of an engineering restructure as it readies itself for Sydney and a potential wildcard entry for Sandown and Bathurst.
Following the Townsville 500 where Todd Hazelwood suffered two mechanical related retirements, it has been suggested that Mirko De Rosa might leave the team.
Talking to AUTO ACTION CoolDrive Racing CEO John Blanchard set the record straight, stating De Rosa is still at the workshop.
“Mirko is still here… he was in my office 20 minutes ago,” Blanchard revealed to AUTO ACTION.
De Rosa has been a foundation member of the CoolDrive Racing squad since it became a standalone one-car team in 2021 after stints engineering at Lucas Dumbrell and Erebus Motorsport.
Todd Hazelwood in the thick of the action at Townsville. Image: Mark Horsburgh
He will miss the Sydney round and potentially The Bend, but due to being on leave for the birth of his first child.
Blanchard said it will only affect the team temporarily and importantly De Rosa will remain in contact during his time at home.
“He is on four weeks leave and is having some time off. He is going to become a father for the first time in the next two weeks,” Blanchard said.
“He also has his mum coming, who he has not seen for eight years, so he was always not coming to Sydney and possibly The Bend.
“We have someone to replace him and Mirko will still be available on the phone and working for us.”
It is a busy time behind the four walls of the Blanchard Racing Team, which is looking to field a wildcard Mustang at the famous Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduros.
In Townsville it became apparent that the field for the two iconic endurance races could expand to 28 with Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing and Blanchard Racing Team wildcards.
BRT has only ever run a standalone entry since joining Supercars in 2021, but has spread its wings in 2023 running a Super2 entry with Aaron Love at the wheel.
Aaron Love takes on turn three at Townsville in the Blanchard Racing Team Super2 entry. Image: Mark Horsburgh
Whilst it is unclear who will share the #3 with Hazelwood, the team has three drivers on its books with Love, plus owner and veteran racer Tim Blanchard if he decides to suit up for a 13th Great Race campaign.
Whilst not technically qualifying for the drive, it is believed Love will be approved for a Supercars debut.
John Blanchard provided a positive update on the build of the new Gen3 Mustang wildcard.
He said progress is coming along nicely with a license hoped to be signed off by the Supercars board soon and a goal of getting it ready early next month.
“We have got three engineers that have put their hands up for those two meetings, so at the moment we have plenty of people to drag in and build the car,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard Racing Team is hoping to have two CoolDrive Mustangs at Bathurst.
“Mirko is also building the wildcard car. We are trying to get it built in the next two or three weeks, so we can test it before Sandown.
“We will run a wildcard at Sandown and Bathurst, provided we get it built in time and the license has to be signed off by the board, but hopefully that is just a rubber-stamping exercise.”
The Blanchard Racing Team will be back in action at the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30.
Auto Action, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.
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