You know that the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is just around the corner when the team's livery activations start to pepper the internet.
Over the last day and a bit, four (technically five) new-look Supercars have been unveiled ahead of this weekend's Great Race from Walkinshaw Andretti United, Tickford Racing, Nissan Motorsport, and Erebus Motorsport.
Defending race winners Erebus are the latest to show off swapped colours, with both the ZB Commodores of David Reynolds/Luke Youlden and Anton De Pasquale/Will Brown sporting much more red and gold.
“I’m calling it the golden child,” said Reynolds, last year's winner alongside Youlden.
“It’s always special to have a new livery for the biggest race of the year, the car looks great and is sure to turn heads. Last year’s result was absolutely fantastic, and we head into this weekend more confident that we can deliver a good result.”
The other new reveal from this morning is the one for young Kiwi André Heimgartner. Fresh from an impressive Sandown 500 performance alongside co-driver Aaren Russell, the team have unveiled that he will be using the same Castrol colours that Rick Kelly used earlier in the year on his sister-car Nissan Altima.
“Rick’s livery was well received when it launched in Adelaide and it’s exciting to bring this back at the biggest event of the year to complement the Perkins- inspired livery," said Heimgartner.
“Bathurst is a long race and we just need to bunker down and ensure we are in the finish for those last 30-odd laps. Aaren and I gel well as a team and the Nissan Altimas are fast so we hope to be right in the finish come late Sunday afternoon."
Heimgartner isn't the only Kiwi to be sporting an alternate look this weekend.
Series rookie Richie Stanaway and co-driver Steve Owen have had their Rabble.Club Falcon lightly changed rear quarter. This weekend's event marks the finale for the Ford Falcon — and Tickford's way of paying tribute is the return of the 'swooping Falcon' motif on the rear quarters.
It's one of two different liveries Tickford are running this weekend, with Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto's Falcon also going retro.
“It’s a small tribute to a car which obviously we have quite a history with,” said Tickford team boss Tim Edwards. “It’s a very fitting look to the Rabble.Club car as well, you can legitimately call it the True Blue Falcon again.
“Every win we’ve ever had has, of course, been with the Falcon, so it’s a bittersweet farewell as we look to next year, but we’d definitely like to give it a proper send off in its last Bathurst 1000.”
Last not least on the ledger is Walkinshaw Andretti United. After sporting a retro look at the Sandown 500, the team have reverted back to the livery they used for the second half of the current season — only with the pearl white replaced with a clean-cut silver.
“The silver orange and black looks incredible, especially in the sunlight, and will certainly be a standout heading across the top of the mountain and down Conrod Straight," said co-team principal Bruce Stewart.
“Bathurst is a special place and a special event, so it’s fantastic to be able to bring a new, fresh look to debut at the most iconic circuit in Australia."