BREAKING: Schwerkolt and HRT split

Privateer V8 Supercar entrant Charlie Schwerkolt will split with Walkinshaw Racing (WR) and set up his own team in 2016.

The move comes despite Schwerkolt still having a year to complete of his two-year contract with the Melbourne-based operation that also owns the factory-backed Holden Racing Team.

The decision comes after commercial negotiations for a revision of the customer service agreement between WR and Schwerkolt’s CS Racing broke down.

Schwerkolt will take his contracted driver Lee Holdsworth with him to his new operation. It is understood a well-known V8 Supercar engineering boss is involved in setting up and running the new operation.

Schwerkolt is planning to run a Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF and technology package, as used by Red Bull Racing duo Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

There are conflicting reports that the new operation will be based out of Melbourne or former V8 Supercar team owner Paul Morris’ facility at Norwell on the Gold Coast.

The new set-up will be the third home for Schwerkolt’s Racing Entitlements Contract (REC, or racing licence) in four years.

Schwerkolt refused to comment on the situation.

Earlier in the week at the American Special Vehicles RAM launch WR owner Ryan Walkinshaw told motoring.com.au the operation’s plans for 2016 were still to be finalised.

Walkinshaw Racing has yo-yoed between running three and four cars in the last few years. But the Clayton-based operation hasn’t run only two cars since the 1990s, when Ryan Walkinshaw’s father Tom owned and entered two HRT entries.

HRT has not won a drivers’ championship since 2002, a teams’ championship since 2009 and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 since 2011. Its current deal with Holden expires at the end of next season, as do WR’s contracts with its two star drivers.

In 2015 WR is running four cars; the two HRT Holden Commodore VFs for Garth Tander and James Courtney, the Supercheap Auto Racing entry for Tim Slade and Schwerkolt’s customer Team 18 car for Lee Holdsworth.

But the third WR entry will be disbanded at the end of the year. The Supercheap sponsorship has already been announced as going to Prodrive and Chaz Mostert next year, while Slade is moving on to Brad Jones Racing. The REC underpinning the entry has been sold to Super Black Racing.

Going into this weekend’s WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint Tander is still in with a theoretical shot at the drivers’ championship while HRT is third in the teams’ championship and in a strong fight with deadly Holden rival Red Bull Racing Australia and Prodrive to win it.

Schwerkolt was a co-owner of Dick Johnson Racing but split with the team after the 2010 championship win by Courtney. He returned to the championship in 2013 with Prodrive, running a Falcon FG for Alex Davison. In 2014 Jack Perkins took over the drive.

In 2015 Schwerkolt hired Holdsworth and reunited with Adrian Burgess by shifting to WR. The Englishman had been team principal at DJR when Schwerkolt was involved but joined the Melbourne squad in 2014 as managing director.

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