Under The Skin Of The ZB

The Holden ZB Commodore has made a flying start as a Supercar. We go in-depth with Triple Eight Race Engineering to track the development of the new-generation Commodore.

- Bruce Newton

For so many reasons the Holden ZB Commodore is such an important Supercar.

The fifth-generation Commodore is the first to be based on an import rather than a locally manufactured road car, the first Supercar based on a five-door hatch and the first Holden racer developed from scratch by Triple Eight Race Engineering.

Yes, Triple Eight has had input into Commodore Supercars previously in tandem with Walkinshaw Racing, the team from which it wrenched away the factory Holden Racing Team brand simply through the sheer weight of its race and championship-winning performances. And, yes, it had designed a complete car previously, the brilliant Ford BF Falcon, which is regarded by many as the best racer of the Project Blueprint era.

The ZB is the first Supercar to be homologated under the ‘NewGen’ technical regulations. This year it’s the body and next year it will be the LF4.R-based V6 twin-turbocharged engine that will replace the iconic Chevrolet five-litre naturally aspirated V8 under the ZB’s aluminium bonnet.

David Cauchi, in addition to his role as Triple Eight’s head designer and Jamie Whincup’s race engineer – the duo have netted two drivers’ championships in four years – has been ZB project manager since late 2016.

The 10-year Triple Eight employee has mothered the project from the very first casual conversations to its racing debut. Cauchi led a small team of multi-taskers to develop the ZB including German aerodynamicist Florian Hoefflin, who was recruited from HWA in Germany specifically for the role, design office manager Ian Drapier, fellow engineers Grant MacPherson and John ‘Irish’ McGregor.

It’s been a seminal time for Cauchi, who was hired into Triple Eight by former technical director Ludo Lacroix. He even lived with the eccentric, brilliant Frenchman years ago as he learned his trade.