Looking back at a handful of truck brands we’ve farewelled since 2017

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Scania R650 in 2019

If you cast your eye across the Repco Supercars Championship paddock in 2021, the B-Double race transporters have never looked better. And they’re drawing even more interest from race fans starved of action in the COVID-19 era.

However, there’s something the paddock has lost over the past couple of years. And that’s the diversity of truck manufacturers. Since 2018, the regular grid size has shrunk by two entries, but we’ve lost five truck brands from the paddock. Admittedly, the ebbs and flows of motor racing has seen a few teams fall by the wayside too, but we’ve still seen a disproportionate impact on diversity in diesel land.

This year, we’re down to five truck manufacturers; Kenworth, Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Freightliner and Mack. But back in 2017, 2018 and 2019, we had eight. And to give an idea of the rate of change in transporter land, in 2017, there was just one Kenworth prime mover. Now, there are five. And back then, there was no Mercedes-Benz representation. There are now three Actros trucks hauling B-Double race transporters. How things have changed for the most prevalent manufacturers in this year’s Supercars paddock.

Here’s a look back at the manufacturers lost from the paddock since 2017.

IVECO

IVECO and Triple Eight Race Engineering were transport partners for six years, with Australian-assembled 560hp IVECO Stralis prime movers pulling the Red Bull Racing Australia (and Team Vortex for three years) B-Doubles from 2015 to 2020. IVECO was the most recent manufacturer to leave the paddock, with the 2021 championship frontrunners linking up with Daimler Trucks Australia for the use of a brand-new Mercedes-Benz Actros this year.

Scania

Scania supplied Walkinshaw Andretti United with Swedish weaponry from 2013 to 2019, with powerful V8 propulsion all the way through. Scania was last seen in the Newcastle paddock in November 2019, with the R620 V8 subbed out in favour of a Palm Trans-supplied Kenworth K200 to bring in the new decade. Unsurprisingly, the Clayton-based operation also used a Scania truck to haul its wildcard entry to the 2019 Bathurst 1000, which you can see bringing up the rear of the convoy in this video.

International Trucks

A pair of International ProStar prime movers drew Tickford Racing away from Western Star for the 2018 Supercars season. These prime movers were distributed by IVECO in Australia, but we’re counting the ProStar pair under the International brand that lives on across the Pacific. The International duo completed two years of duty for Tickford’s two B-Double trailer sets, before a new partnership with Truck Assist brought two new Kenworth K200 trucks to the Campbellfield squad in 2020. The ProStar won’t be making a comeback any time soon, with production winding up last year.

Volvo Trucks

Garry Rogers Motorsport ran a top of the range Volvo FH16 700 prime mover for its last six years in the Supercars Championship, coinciding with the debut of the fan-favourite Volvo S60 in 2014. While Volvo only lasted three years on track, the team continued to use the FH16 700 until bowing out of the sport full-time at the conclusion of the 2019 season. However, unlike the other teams mentioned in this story, you can still see two GRM Volvo trucks today in the TCR Australia and S5000 paddocks.

Western Star

This was a mid-season swap, as Tekno Autosports said goodbye to its Western Star 4800 mid-way through the 2019 season in favour of a Penske Commerical Vehicles-supplied MAN TGX 26.580. Tekno’s big banger, used since the 2013 season, was the last remaining Western Star in the paddock, as Tickford ceased using a pair of 5800SS trucks at the end of 2017.

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