For the second season in a row the Holden Racing Team has pulled off a co-driver coup by signing a highly rated young Aussie international for the Sandown and Bathurst enduros. Last year it was James Courtney, who then promptly signed full-time with Stone Brothers Racing, much to the chagrin of HRT. This year it is IndyCar star and Toyota F1 test driver Ryan Briscoe.

Briscoe, who will partner seven-times Bathurst winner Jim Richards (as Courtney did last year), was only signed at the eleventh hour, and the 24-year-old appeared at the team launch at The Melbourne International Motor Show jet-lagged from a last minute flight from Indianapolis. Briscoe said he hadn’t planned to race a V8 Supercar so early in his career.

"It’s been a pretty frantic last couple of months but being a part of HRT is amazing," said Briscoe. "To be able to race in the Bathurst 1000 at a young age with HRT is huge. I’ve been talking with Mark for a couple of months and it’s a great opportunity.

"I’ve got a lot to learn but, talking to Jim and Mark, I’m confident our car will be super-quick at Bathurst and teaming up with Jim will make my job a lot easier. The cars are very different and I’m going test a couple of times before Sandown and just try and get as well prepared as I can. It won’t be the ideal scenario, but I’ll be 100 per cent focused and try and do the best job possible. Once I get used the weight of the car and the shifting, it’s just another racecar, and I’ll only have two tracks to learn. I’m looking forward to it."

Above left: Dodo was revealed as a support sponsor. Above right: Briscoe, fighting jet lag, makes a surprise appearance at HRT 2006 livery unveiling.

While Todd Kelly was the most successful Holden driver last season with three round wins, including Bathurst with Skaife, reliability problems hurt his chances of winning the championship. But Kelly is very upbeat about 2006 and has predicted a better showing this season.

"The guys have done an amazing job over Christmas," said Kelly. "They’ve completely re-done all the suspension and I can’t wait to get back in the car. We know that as soon as we pull the car out at places like Darwin, it will be quick. But we need to do that at all the tracks that we (traditionally) go bad at, and if we can do that, we’ll be a red-hot contender."

The real pressure will be on Skaife to get results this year as, Bathurst aside, he has not had anywhere near his normal win rate since he bought the team. But with Tom Walkinshaw now running the former Holden Motor Sport technical operations under his Tom Walkinshaw Performance Group, and the racetrack management of HRT and the Toll Holden Special Vehicles Dealer Team now under the Walkinshaw Racing Operations banner, Skaife should be free to concentrate on racing.

"There are not massive gains to be made with these cars, but Tom’s acquisition of HMS is a good thing, his technical expertise and our ability to work together is going to be a real benefit for us," said Skaife. "You’ve got to have the best car and we’ll throw plenty of things at (the car) to facilitate that.

"There’s not an area of the car that we haven’t looked at very closely. We’ve made gains in almost every area, and we need to now execute that on track. We need to find 3-4 tenths of a second per lap, and you don’t get that from just one area of the car. It’s also about being consistent, qualifying well, making good starts, and making sure the tyres live. There are probably 10 or 12 guys who can win a race and, with reverse-grid races, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 10 winners this year."

HRT also revealed its new racecar livery, which is little changed from ’05 but features a more ‘Ferrari’ red and the logos of new sponsors Dodo, Toll Logistics and Puma. HRT also announced that Mobil had re-signed for another three years.

Skaife will have a brand-new car at the Clipsal 500, while Kelly will race the Bathurst-winning VZ Commodore until his new car is ready, sometime early in the season.