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Tickford, BRT among potential entry suitors

Tickford Racing and the Blanchard Racing Team could be among the suitors for the two 2022 entries that Supercars has put on the market.

James Courtney, Tickford Racing Ford, Jack Le Brocq, Tickford Racing Ford

James Courtney, Tickford Racing Ford, Jack Le Brocq, Tickford Racing Ford

Mark Horsburgh, Edge Photographics

The Aussie series has formally opened the tender process for two Racing Entitlements Contracts ahead of next season, which, if sold, would see the field grow from 24 to 26 cars next season.

According to today's announcement about the tender, “Supercars has already received interest from several parties to purchase these RECs".

The leading contender for one of entries is understood to be Tickford Racing, which will resume the bid for a fourth in-house entry that failed ahead of this season.

The Ford squad was forced to scale back to three cars this season after the ex-Phil Munday REC that was underpinning the fourth entry was sold to Brad Jones Racing.

Tickford technically owns one of the RECs held by Supercars after handing it back in late 2018 so it could run the Munday entry. However the regulations prohibit a REC being handed back without being approved through the tender process.

While a Tickford bid is highly likely, BRT is yet to decide whether it will make a play for one of the available RECs.

The new-for-2021 squad currently operates as a standalone, single-car team running a Tickford-built Mustang for Tim Slade.

Team owner Tim Blanchard says expanding to two cars is on the cards and that his team could play a role in the tender process, depending on details such as backing.

He says he'll also be asking Supercars for more clarity regarding the Gen3 rules before deciding whether or not to tender, with the delivery of the new-for-2022 regulations causing some concern in the paddock.

"We want to move to two cars in the next few years, but whether we'll have a crack at it for next year is up in the air a little bit," he told Motorsport.com.

"There's a few things we need to sort out, because we wouldn't have two CoolDrive cars on the grid. But we have had a little bit of interest from other partners in joining us and running a car in their livery alongside the CoolDrive car under the BRT banner. So we'd need to lock that away.

"And we'd need a bit more clarity on where Gen3 is at, to be honest. There are too many question marks on Gen3 for us to make that sort of financial commitment. I need to know exactly what Gen3 looks like, and will cost, before I'll commit to another REC.

"We're not closing the door [on a REC tender], we're definitely interested, but there's a few questions that need to be answered before we have a proper crack at it. If they're not answered before the deadline, then we're out for now."

Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton has inquired about available RECs in the past, while former team owner and Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris is another potential suitor for the entries.

Super2 team Eggleston Motorsport has also been linked to a potential promotion to the main game.

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