EX-TEAM 18 KENWORTH LANDS NEW ROLE ON THE ROAD

This Bayswater-built Kenworth T610 is hauling specialised machinery in its life after Supercars

Five forklifts onboard. Image: Waverley Forklifts

We love hearing what ex-motorsport trucks are doing these days. Few continue to pull specialised four-wheel machinery after leaving the motorsport world, but Melbourne-based Waverley Forklifts has bucked that trend by finding a similar role for the ex-Team 18 Kenworth T610.

This truck was built by Kenworth Australia in Bayswater, and it was delivered to Charlie Schwerkolt’s Team 18 Supercars squad early in the 2018 Supercars season. It went on to complete three seasons in Australia’s premier touring car championship, clocking up over 100,000 kilometres and laying rubber on the road in every state of Australia.

The Team 18 Kenworth T610 during the 2019 Supercars season

This truck was on transport duties throughout the Mount Waverley squad’s expansion, initially hauling the VF Commodore of Lee Holdsworth, then the ZB Commodore of Mark Winterbottom, and then the team’s upgrade to two cars for the 2020 season.

Its final motorsport trip was to the Bathurst 1000 at the end of last year, after which the team’s truck driver, Mark Nelson, drove the Kenworth T610 B-Double transporter back to its Mount Waverley base after 106 days on the road.

Parked in the paddock at the 2018 Darwin Triple Crown. Image: Sean Jackson

With Schwerkolt eying a new Kenworth T909 to pull the Team 18 B-Double in 2021, while needing a truck to haul forklifts for his non-motorsport business, the Kenworth T610 was shifted into the WFL Transport fleet at the start of this year.

The big, bonneted Kenworth is the first dedicated interstate truck to join Schwerkolt’s business in 25 years. It’s currently being driven by Mat Whelan across the eastern states of Australia. And just like it did before, the truck tows custom-built B-Double trailers. However, these ones are designed to shift specialised machinery between Waverley Forklifts’ branches and sometimes deliver them directly to customers.

Ready for a trip north last month. Image: Waverley Forklifts

It’s based metres from the Team 18 Supercars workshop in Melbourne and primarily travels to Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

While showing fewer kilometres than most four-year-old prime movers in Australia, this truck is no stranger to hard work. Team 18 took three trailers to the big events during the 2019 Supercars season; two for the race team and one for the IRWIN Ultimate Tradesman Challenge. With Colin Schwartz at the wheel, the T610 hauled all three trailers from the outskirts of Adelaide to Perth that year.

Pulling three trailers in 2019. Image: Colin Schwartz

Do you know of an ex-motorsport truck still clocking up kilometres out on the road? We’d love to write a story about it. You can drop us a line on any of the social media links below, or flick an email to trucksattracks@gmail.com.