Red Bull Racing confirms successful first outing for future racing powerplant.
Holden has taken its first step into the future of Supercar racing.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team has confirmed it successfully tested the next-generation twin-turbo V6 powerplant in a private shakedown test at Queensland's Norwell Motorplex this week.
Supercar stars, Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Steven Richards, drove the team's promotional Sandman supercar fitted with the first twin-turbo V6 engine this week, with the team reporting it exceeded initial expectations.
"We are very happy with the initial running, GM Racing has given us a great base to work from," Red Bull Racing boss Roland Dane said in a statement.
"The test has been about getting kilometres on the engine and understanding what it needs at this point to prepare it for racing in Supercars."
The team intends to introduce the Gen2 engine with a staggered program next year, with the three main drivers - Lowndes, Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen - continuing to use today's 5.0-litre V8 engines in their new-generation Commodore racers while a fourth car with a yet-to-be-announced driver will debut the V6 in a series of wild card entries to assess and develop its potential in the racing arena before a full-scale introduction in 2018.
The V6 engine will be unique to Holden in Supercars, and the first time a turbo charged engine has been used in top-level Australian touring car racing since the technology was outlawed in 1993 when the series reverted to a Ford versus Holden competition.
It will also be exclusive to the racing environment, as the next-generation road-going Commodore that is set to arrive in local showrooms early next year will be offered with a naturally-aspirated V6 in top-spec variants and a four-cylinder turbo in lower-grade models. The race cars will also retain a rear-wheel drive configuration whereas the road cars will have either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive transmissions.
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