Komatsu Australia will partner with Triple Eight Race Engineering for the ninth consecutive year in 2016. The team will add an additional car to its roster as it gears up for the 2016 V8 Supercars championship.
Komatsu has been a partner of Triple Eight, now in its fourth year competing under the Red Bull Racing Australia (RBRA) banner, since 2008, in which time the team has achieved six Driver Championships and seven Team Championships.
Growing the drivers’ ranks to three, Shane Van Gisbergen joins Red Bull Racing Australia with the #97 VF Commodore. A race winner at the 2015 Gold Coast 600 and Sydney 500, Van Gisbergen is a New Zealander with a history of motorsport achievement and recently revealed the Red Bull squad’s 2016 livery in a haze of coloured tyre smoke.
He joins the fold with six-time champion Jamie Whincup and V8 veteran Craig Lowndes who celebrated 100 career wins, his sixth Bathurst win and outright second place in 2015.
Komatsu Australia Managing Director and CEO Sean Taylor said the partnership reflected Komatsu’s drive to remain at the cutting edge of its industry.
“High performance machines, tough conditions and constant improvement: Komatsu and V8 Supercars have a lot in common. That is why we continue to be a partner of the sport’s leading team.
“Nobody wins more races, achieves more at Bathurst or takes more championships than Triple Eight and we are proud and excited to be a part of the race to the 2016 Championship. Our team strives to help our customers win every day, just like the RBRA team strives to get drivers on the podium,” he said.
“The Triple Eight team aligns closely with our brand mantra of People Powered Technology as we have both succeeded through employing the best people, using superior machines and utilising leading edge technology to achieve success.”
Triple Eight Race Engineering Team owner Roland Dane said Komatsu’s partnership was key to the team’s continual success on and off the track.
“Komatsu’s role in our program goes beyond stickers and patches on cars and race suits. It is a partnership of mutual support and mutual benefit. Technical expertise and knowledge is shared, apprentices are mentored and lessons are learned.
“In 2016 we have a formidable crew, Australia’s leading businesses as partners and three brilliant drivers, all of whom finished the 2015 Drivers Championship inside the top five. My motto is to assume nothing, but we are in a great position to tackle the challenges of 2016,” he said.
The 2016 V8 Supercars Championship gets underway at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 3 to 6.