Blanchard Racing Team Explained

Short Name:Blanchard Racing Team
Manufacturer:Ford
Principal:Tim Blanchard
Manager:Kate Harrington
Drivers:Supercars:
3. Aaron Love
7. James Courtney
Engineers:Supercars:
3. Chris Fitzgerald[1]
7. Matt Saunders[2]
Chassis:Mustang GT
Debut:2017
Drivers Champ:0
Wins:0
Poles:0
Last Season:2023
Last Position:13th

Blanchard Racing Team is an Australian motor racing team, currently competing in the Supercars Championship under the commercial title CoolDrive Auto Parts. It fields the Blanchard Racing-built No. 3 Ford Mustang GT, driven by Aaron Love, and the No. 7 entry, driven by James Courtney.

History

Customer Team

Tim Blanchard Racing was formed at the end of the 2016 season when Tim Blanchard purchased a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) from Super Black Racing with the aim of continuing in the Supercars Championship, after the Britek Motorsport REC that had underpinned Blanchard's entry was taken by owner Jason Bright to Prodrive Racing Australia.[3] Brad Jones Racing maintained the running of the entry.[4] [5] In 2018, the team upgraded to the Holden ZB Commodore.

After Blanchard retired from full time driving at the end of 2018, Macauley Jones took over the driving.[6] For 2020, the team's race number was changed from No. 21 to No. 3.

Stand Alone Team

In 2021, after four seasons running as a satellite team of Brad Jones Racing, the team was renamed to Blanchard Racing Team and switched to a ex-23Red Racing Tickford-built Ford Mustang. Macauley Jones was replaced by Tim Slade.[7]

In 2022 Tim Slade and Tim Blanchard competed as the only single car team in the Supercars Championship finishing their 2nd full-time season finishing the championship in 11th position.

2023 saw the beginning of the new GEN3 rule and the Blanchard Racing Team enteredtheir third year of full-time Supercars racing and were the first team to complete thebuild of the GEN3 regulation car. Todd Hazelwood was signed as the primary driver ofthe CoolDrive Racing Ford Mustang and co-driver was Tim Blanchard. 2023 Also saw BRTintroduce a Super2 Category entry driven by Aaron Love.

In 2024 BRT expand to a two-car team with a combination of James Courtney will lead the driver line-up in car number 7. Aaron Love will step up from Super2 and drive the second of the BRT Gen3 Ford Mustangs in car number 3.

Supercars Championship history

Drivers

The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Supercars championship, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.

Car No. 3 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334Pts
2017Tim Blanchard21HoldenADE
R1

ADE
R2

SYM
R3

SYM
R4

PHI
R5

PHI
R6

BAR
R7

BAR
R8

WIN
R9

WIN
R10

HID
R11

HID
R12

TOW
R13

TOW
R14

QLD
R15

QLD
R16

SMP
R17

SMP
R18

SAN
Q

SAN
R19

BAT
R20

SUR
R21

SUR
R22

PUK
R23

PUK
R24

NEW
R25

NEW
R26

22nd1302
2018ADE
R1

ADE
R2

MEL
R3

MEL
R4

MEL
R5

MEL
R6

SYM
R7

SYM
R8

PHI
R9

PHI
R10

BAR
R11

BAR
R12

WIN
R13

WIN
R14

HID
R15

HID
R16

TOW
R17

TOW
R18

QLD
R19

QLD
R20

SMP
R21

BEN
R22

BEN
R23

SAN
QR

SAN
R24

BAT
R25

SUR
R26
SUR
R27
PUK
R28

PUK
R29

NEW
R30

NEW
R31

24th1277
2019Macauley JonesADE
R1

ADE
R2

MEL
R3

MEL
R4

MEL
R5

MEL
R6

SYM
R7

SYM
R8

PHI
R9

PHI
R10

BAR
R11

BAR
R12

WIN
R13

WIN
R14

HID
R15

HID
R16

TOW
R17

TOW
R18

QLD
R19

QLD
R20

BEN
R21

BEN
R22

PUK
R23

PUK
R24

BAT
R25

SUR
R26

SUR
R27

SAN
QR

SAN
R28

NEW
R29

NEW
R30

21st1314
20203ADE
R1

ADE
R2

MEL
R3
MEL
R4
MEL
R5
MEL
R6
SMP1
R7

SMP1
R8

SMP1
R9

SMP2
R10
SMP2
R11
SMP2
R12
HID1
R13
HID1
R14
HID1
R15
HID2
R16
HID2
R17
HID2
R18
TOW1
R19
TOW1
R20
TOW1
R21
TOW2
R22
TOW2
R23
TOW2
R24
BEN1
R25
BEN1
R26
BEN1
R27
BEN2
R28
BEN2
R29
BEN2
R30
BAT
R31

19th980
2021Tim SladeFordBAT
R1

BAT
R2

SAN
R3
SAN
R4
SAN
R5
SYM
R6
SYM
R7
SYM
R8
BEN
R9
BEN
R10
BEN
R11
HID
R12

HID
R13

HID
R14

TOW
R15

TOW
R16

TOW2
R17
TOW2
R18
TOW2
R19
SYD1
R20

SYD1
R21

SYD1
R22

SYD2
R23
SYD2
R24
SYD2
R25
SYD3
R26
SYD3
R27
SYD3
R28
SYD4
R29
SYD4
R30
BAT
R31

12th1627
2022SMP
R1

SMP
R2

SYM
R3

SYM
R4

SYM
R5

MEL
R6

MEL
R7

MEL
R8

MEL
R9

BAR
R10

BAR
R11

BAR
R12

WIN
R13

WIN
R14

WIN
R15

HID
R16

HID
R17

HID
R18

TOW
R19
TOW
R20
BEN
R21
BEN
R22
BEN
R23
SAN
R24
SAN
R25
SAN
R26
PUK
R27
PUK
R28
PUK
R29
BAT
R30

SUR
R31
SUR
R32
ADE
R33

ADE
R34

11th1855

Bathurst 1000 results

YearNo.CarDriversPositionLaps
201721Holden Commodore VF Tim Blanchard
Todd Hazelwood
12th160
201821Holden Commodore ZB Tim Blanchard
Dale Wood
18th159
201921Holden Commodore ZB Macauley Jones
Dean Canto
16th160
20203Holden Commodore ZB Macauley Jones
Tim Blanchard
13th161
20213Ford Mustang GT Tim Slade
Tim Blanchard
9th161
20223Ford Mustang GT Tim Slade
Tim Blanchard
19th161
20233Ford Mustang GT Todd Hazelwood
Tim Blanchard
DNF156
7Ford Mustang GT Aaron Love
Jake Kostecki
19th160

Notes and References

  1. News: BRT signs race winning engineer. V8 Sleuth. AN1 Media. O'Brien. Connor. 22 February 2024. 19 July 2024.
  2. News: BRT swings pre-Sydney engineering change. V8 Sleuth. AN1 Media. O'Brien. Connor. 19 July 2024. 19 July 2024.
  3. Web site: Jason Bright Prodrive deal confirmed. Speedcafe. 5 December 2016.
  4. Web site: Blanchard to reassess driving future in 2017. Speedcafe. 2 December 2016.
  5. Web site: Blanchards purchase Super Black REC. Speedcafe. 2 December 2016.
  6. Web site: Macauley Jones graduates to Supercars for 2019.. Speedcafe. 6 December 2018.
  7. Web site: CoolDrive Racing Launches New Supercars Team for 2021. Supercars. 14 December 2020.