A RACE-winning Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang is the first car that has been committed to racing in the Super2 Series when it switches to the Gen3 platform in 2028.
DJRS-04 holds a special place in Shell V-Power Racing Team history as the car that Anton De Pasquale drove to the team’s first race win of the Repco Supercars Championship’s Gen3 era at the Townsville 500 in 2023.
Later that year, he paired with Tony D’Alberto to score Ford’s first Bathurst 1000 podium in the Gen3 era with a third placing.
The car is also a Jason Richards Memorial Trophy winner, an accolade De Pasquale earnt in the championship’s return to New Zealand in 2024 at the Taupō circuit.
The sale of DJRS-04 was facilitated by Young Timers Garage, culminating in a handover to its new custodian, Cooper Barnes, at Queensland Raceway on the Friday following the Repco Supercars Championship round in August.
“We are proud that one of our Ford Mustangs is the first car committed to race in the Super2 Series’ upcoming switch to Gen3 machinery,” Dr. Ryan Story, Shell V-Power Racing Team executive chairman and co-owner, said.
“Cooper will have a proven car as he takes his next step up the ladder, and securing a Gen3 car well in advance of 2028 demonstrates how serious he is about his motor racing and his desire to one day reach Supercars.
“He has shown himself to be a talented young racer with a lot of promise and he acquitted himself well in his time aboard his new car.”
Barnes, a 19-year-old who is a frontrunner in the GR Cup, completed the maximum 10 laps allowed under Supercars testing rules as part of an open practice day at the circuit.
Prior to his laps in DJRS-04, the most powerful car Barnes had raced was a Ford Mustang production car at the Bathurst 6 Hour earlier this year.
“It was awesome,” Barnes said. “Everything happened 10 times faster than I’m used to.
“The car had so much more braking stability, the sequential gearchange was amazing – driving the real thing was so much better than the simulator.”
“Driving the Supercar was completely different to the 86. The speeds that you are travelling at are just crazy; you would never get up to that in the 86. Then out of corners, it had just crazy power. It was extremely fun to drive."
The car retained its Shell V-Power Racing Team colours for the handover drive, albeit with Barnes’ name on the windscreen and his #86 on the windows.
“I first saw it when I went into the workshop for my seat fit,” Barnes said. “I couldn't believe that they did that for me.”
The Barnes family has purchased the car to race in the Super2 Series and are the first to publicly commit to competing in the second tier once the category switches to Gen3 machinery.
“We spent a bit of time looking at where we wanted to go,” Jamie Barnes, Cooper’s father, said.
“We looked at entering Super2 next year with its current Gen2 cars but decided that waiting for the category to switch to Gen3 was the right thing for us.
“The next step was to find a car, and we felt the best option was to buy a car from the Shell V-Power Racing Team.”
The Super2 Series has been the Repco Supercars Championship’s official second tier category for over quarter of a century.
It has been an important stepping stone for most of the drivers on the current grid including both Shell V-Power Racing Team drivers Brodie Kostecki and Rylan Gray, the latter of whom is the reigning Super2 Series winner.
