Hino has revealed it has stepped up for the upcoming Supercar season, not only continuing its sponsorship of the Supercar series but also having a much bigger presence on the Charlie Schwerkolt Team 18 operation, with the truck maker becoming the main sponsor on Scott Pye’s new Gen3 Chevvy Camaro for the opening round of the series in Newcastle next month as well as appearing on the front guard of both Team 18 machines across the entire Supercar series.
Hino unveiled the the livery of of the number 20 Chevrolet with a set of render images of the team’s first Chevrolet Camaro livery, which it will wear at the opening round of the Championship at the Newcastle 500 on 10-12 March. The car itself is set to be revealed in the flesh at a shakedown at Winton raceway next week.
Hino Australia says its naming rights sponsorship for the #20 car is an extension of its long-standing partnership with Team 18, which is entering its seventh year in 2023.
“Hino is thrilled to be the naming rights sponsor for Scott Pye’s #20 car at Newcastle, particularly when Supercars hasn’t raced there since 2019,” said Hino Australia’s vice president of brand and franchise development, Richard Emery, .
“Like our long-term sponsorship of the Repco Supercars Championship, our partnership with Team 18 is one that continues to make sense for Hino Australia, our dealers and customers on many levels.
“Team owner Charlie Schwerkolt and the team have worked incredibly hard to build their own Gen-3 racecar, and we wish them every success in 2023,” concluded Emery.
Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt said he is excited about the year ahead.
“We at Team 18 are so proud to reveal the colours of our first Gen-3 Chevrolet Camaro ahead of the 2023 season launch in Newcastle,” said Schwerkolt.
“It’s an exciting time as we are not only racing brand new cars, but racing two new cars that we have built in house – it’s a testament to the entire staff at Team 18 for their hard work and efforts to get set for the new chapter of Supercars kicking off next month,” he continued.
“It’s a great honour to welcome Hino as title partner on our first Gen-3 livery as well as welcoming all our new and existing partners to the team this year. We can’t wait to see Scott hit the track in his Camaro for the first time at Newcastle,” said Schwerkolt.
Season 2023 marks Pye’s 11th year as a full time driver in the Supercars Championship and his fourth season with Team 18 as the sport begins the Gen-3 era of technical regulations this year.
Pye is looking forward to the getting behind the wheel of the Hino Camaro at the Winton shakedown.
“The Hino Camaro looks fantastic and I’m super excited to get behind the wheel – hopefully it’s covered in champagne pretty early in the year!” he said.
“Being in the workshop to see the car build has been really inspiring, and I’m confident we’ll arrive for testing in a really good position and be ready to rumble by Round 1 at Newcastle.”
“My pre-season has been massive – I only took one week off in New Zealand, I was pretty frustrated after Adelaide last year and I turned that frustration quickly into a positive by getting back into training early.
“The bumpy nature of the Newcastle track and its kerbs puts even more emphasis on our testing program to ensure that we’re putting the car through its paces and finding any issues that arise before we get there so we can capitalise on what will be a really tough event,” said Pye.
Following the shakedown at Winton, the #20 Hino Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will head to the official Supercars pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park on Wednesday 22 February.
