MOTORSPORT: All change for Holden Racing Team
Design chief Skinner and ace engineers Crawford and Sinclair leave as Walkinshaw Racing restructuresThe restructure of Walkinshaw Racing has kicked into top gear ahead of the arrival of new boss Adrian Burgess in January.
Chief designer Doug Skinner, operations manager Adam Laws and high-profile engineers Matt Crawford and Scott Sinclair have joined Burgess’ predecessor Steve Hallam in exiting the team.
It is understood the departures are a combination of redundancies and resignations, but it is unknown how what role Burgess – who is currently on holiday in the UK -- played in the movements.
Walkinshaw Racing campaigned two factory-backed Holden Racing Team VF Commodores for Garth Tander and James Courtney and the Super Cheap Auto Racing entry for Russell Ingall in 2013.
In 2014, Tim Slade will replace Ingall in the Supercheap entry and Walkinshaw Racing will expand to run a fourth car for Nick Percat, underpinned by the Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) of South Australian motorsport patron James Rosenberg.
Crawford was car manager (or lead engineer) for the Ingall entry, while Sinclair performed the same role for Tander. In his position, Laws has managed the operations of the Walkinshaw Racing manufacturing facility since 2008.
Skinner, an Australian, started at Walkinshaw Racing in 2005 after a long period in Formula One. He oversaw the design of the company’s Project Blueprint Holden VE Commodore the VF Commodore ‘Car of the Future’. He was also a member of the V8 Supercars Technical Advisory Panel.
Burgess makes a controversial switch from team principal at Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2014 after spending six months on gardening leave. He becomes managing director, replacing Hallam one year ahead of the expiration of his fellow Englishman’s contract with Walkinshaw Racing.
Highly-rated engineer Matthew ‘Techo’ Nilsson will rejoin Walkinshaw Racing in 2014 after three years at Ford Performance Racing.
Crawford has worked at the organisation since 1993 and was a key player in his its period of dominance between 1996 and 2002 when it won six teams’ championship in seven years and Mark Skaife won three drivers’ championships.
Sinclair engineered James Courtney to his 2010 driver’s championship at Dick Johnson Racing, when Burgess was in charge there as sporting director. He swapped with Courtney to HRT in 2011 and has since rotated through several different roles, including the management of Car of the Future development.
image:http://www.hrt.com.au
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