Australia’s most successful V8 Supercar team, the Toll Holden Racing Team began celebrations for its 20th anniversary with today’s unveiling of its 2010 Holden Commodore race car. Drivers Will Davison and Garth Tander pulled the covers of their spectacular new-look Commodores at Holden’s Fisherman’s Bend headquarters, the new livery the most aggressive in the team’s 20 year history.

A creation of Holden Design’s Peter Hughes, the new look is a logical evolution of past schemes with a brand new 3D side graphic and sinister black lowers inspired by the one-off 2008 Bathurst livery.

The basic colour break up evolves from last year while the Toll HRT’s legion of supporters will notice a new, very bright racing red, the exciting new look unmistakably Toll HRT.

Delighted with the look of the 20th anniversary Toll HRT Commodore, Davison said he was looking forward to returning to the track and improving on his stellar 2009 season.

“It is a privilege to drive for the Toll Holden Racing Team – 2010 is a very special year in the team’s history and to be able to race such a stunning and tough looking car will be an honour,” Davison said.

“With a year at Toll HRT under my belt, I am now very comfortable and really feel part of the Holden family.

“At the beginning of last year a lot of people said I could win the championship, but with a new team it was probably the last thing on my mind.

“Having a team like Toll HRT around you is motivating and I am now well aware of what I am capable of with a team like this.

“I am going into the new season knowing exactly what I want to achieve, and my expectations are high”

Tander said the reigning Bathurst and V8 Supercar Teams’ Champions would push for even greater results this year with the goal of reclaiming the V8 Supercar Drivers Championship

“For much of the past 20 years, the Toll Holden Racing Team has been V8 Supercar’s powerhouse team, and for the past two seasons there has been a concerted effort to get Toll HRT back to where it deserves to be,” Tander said.

“With Will on board 2009 was a successful year, but it is a sign of the determination within Toll HRT that despite all that we won we still aren’t satisfied as we did not win the driver’s title.

“We appreciate what we achieved, but Will and I are not resting on our laurels. There have been a lot of changes over the off-season and we are looking to exploit those, we are going to push harder than ever before.”

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Alan Batey said the Toll Holden Racing Team has become synonymous with motor racing excellence over its proud 20 years history.

“At Holden we are incredibly proud of HRT’s achievements and are confident they will build on their winning heritage in 2010,” Mr Batey said.

“Our association with the team is incredibly important for the Holden brand and as we enter this new decade, HRT will be right there next to us.”

In addition to celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year Toll HRT also celebrates 15 years of Mobil sponsorship, while during the off-season the team renewed and strengthened its co-naming rights sponsorship with integrated logistics services supplier Toll.

The team also agreed to a new major partnership with leading Australian restaurant chain Red Rooster, its branding taking prominence on the bonnets of Davison and Tander’s Commodores.

Walkinshaw Racing CEO, Craig Wilson said the addition of new partners and new agreements with existing partners shows the strength of the Toll Holden Racing Team.

“We are delighted to be able to continue the long standing association with our key partners and also be able to develop new relationships as we have with Red Rooster,” Wilson said.

“This type of partner support will assist us in achieving further success in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship, our 20th anniversary year.

“Combined with some of the changes we have made in the off season it will enable us to push even harder to achieve our objectives in 2010.”

The Holden Racing Team made its debut as the official factory team of Holden with then team manager Win Percy as its first driver at Round 1 of the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship, held Amaroo Park in Sydney.

Later that year, Percy and Allan Grice went on to record HRT’s first win in Australia’s Great Race, the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

Since then, the team has gone on to amass a record unmatched by any other team, including 78 poles, 168 race wins, six Bathurst 1000 victories (1990, 96, 2001, 02, 05, 09) and six V8 Supercar Championships (1996, 98, 99, 2000, 01, 02).

Last year was a successful year for the team, recording seven pole positions and six race wins, winning the Phillip Island L’H 500 and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 enduro double, and securing the coveted V8 Supercar Teams’ Championship.

Davison and Tander also finished second and third respectively in the Drivers’ Championship, with Davison also being awarded the prestigious Barry Sheene Medal – V8 Supercar’s ‘best and fairest’.

Davison and Tander will hit the track for the first time in their new look Toll Holden Racing Team Commodores at Winton Motor Raceway for the team’s official pre-season test on Monday, 1 February, with the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series kicking off in Abu Dhabi on 18-20 February as part of the season opening double-header in the Middle East.