Chahda eyes high-profile Adelaide wildcard

Matt Chahda Motorsport has requested a wildcard entry for the Vailo Adelaide 500, but the race may not be for Matt.

Armin Chahda, Matt Chahda’s father, has confirmed that the team intends to bid for this year’s Vailo Adelaide 500 with the intention of fielding a high-profile driver with names such as Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas. Bathurst paddock as opportunities.

“We can say something interesting: it was no secret this weekend that we were looking at running a wild card in Adelaide,” Chahda told AUTO ACTION.

“I’ve spoken to Supercars, I’ve spoken to a lot of people and we already have a few potential sponsors and after today, even though we’ve had a blast, people still want to get involved. So that’s pretty cool.

“We’re just trying to get a deal done with a certain driver and if we don’t get him then obviously I’ll have Matt drive because today was just a big learning curve for him.

“People forget that we had two Super2 drivers rather than base game drivers, and this is a big step forward.”

He said his son and Brad Vaughan skated in the middle pack for most of the day, but a couple of spins and early contact with Chaz Mostert put them well into the mix.

“This is a huge step forward, we did it in 2022 and realized how big it is,” he said.

“We came into this with our eyes open, we learned a lot at Sandown and these cars are different to the ones we had in 22 and the ones they use in Super2.”

Even if he gets one of the two Formula One stars in his car, he doesn’t expect it to put the car on the front row of the grid.

“It’s not easy, but these guys we’re looking at are next level,” he said.

“Whether we can get him or not between now and Adelaide, or we focus on next year with them and put Matt in an ex-Broc Feeney T8 car, I haven’t made that decision yet.

“We have pretty good support, a few people behind it, which is pretty cool when you think about where we come from.

“We have a small workshop in Albury and all these guys working here this weekend are from the workshop which is great and we appreciate the help we get from Triple Eight and Supercars.”

He said he needed to finalize his plans this week.

Image: Peter Norton/EPIC Sports Photography

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