The 2020 Supercars Championship season is just around the corner, with the final touches to the silly season-impacted driver line-up starting to take shape and the first new liveries being unveiled.
And among the first to be shown off is the Ned Whisky–backed Kelly Racing Ford Mustang of Kiwi André Heimgartner.
The 24-year-old is currently coming off a break-out season in Supercars. While he was unlucky to not finish on the top 10 of the championship table following an unlucky run through the PIRTEK Enduro Cup, Heimgartner did manage to claim his first solo podium finish at Phillip Island, and then backed it up with a comprehensive and impressive Bathurst 1000 campaign alongside co-driver Bryce Fullwood.
For 2020, his Kelly Racing squad is both downsizing to a two-car operation and switching from the outdated Nissan Altima platform to a pair of Ford Mustangs. Former champion Rick Kelly will be Heimgartner's teammate, with the expectation that Castrol will remain on his car.
“It’s exciting and a big step in my racing career to have Ned Whisky come on-board with a multi-year partnership for my new Ford Performance Mustang Supercar. It is a fun brand and I cannot wait to represent them next year,” said Heimgartner.
“Myself and the team here have the opportunity to be part of something pretty special with Ned so we’ll be doing everything we can to serve them well into the future.”
“It’s extremely exciting to announce a new major partnership between Kelly Racing and Ned Whisky for Andre’s Mustang next year and beyond,” added team owner and former Bathurst 1000 champion Todd Kelly.
“We’ve got a big season ahead with a lot of great opportunities made possible by the switch to Mustang so it’s fantastic to bring a new major sponsor on-board that we can share that with and start a new journey together.
“There’s a great bunch of people behind Ned and the brand shares the same values and beliefs that we stand by as a team at Kelly Racing, which is really exciting and I’m confident that we can do big things on and off the track together.”
With Kelly Racing's switch to Fords, next season marks the first since 2012 where the full grid will be made up solely of Fords and Holdens. The future of Holden's involvement is admittedly in doubt, although the manufacturer has committed to run unswayed through until at least 2021.