Phil Brock, the younger brother of the late Peter Brock, says the departure of Holden from the Supercars Championship may leave some fans scratching their heads.
Fans have long known that Holden would leave the sport eventually. In 2020, General Motors announced the Australian car company would close its doors that year.
Following several delays, Supercars will introduce its Gen3 regulations in 2023, which will usher in a new-look Ford Mustang and an all-new Chevrolet Camaro.
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The latter acts as the replacement for the current Gen2-specification Holden Commodore, a car no longer sold on Australian showroom floors.
The Camaro is another not currently sold domestically in Australia, but represents General Motors Specialty Vehicles’ presence in the motoring and motor racing landscape.
For Brock, he’s unsure whether dyed-in-the-wool Holden fans will necessarily jump ship to Chevrolet.
“The problem at the moment, I guess is you go ‘okay, this is the last of the Holden thing, what is next year going to be?’ Because a lot of fans are still Ford versus Holden,” Brock told Wide World of Sports.
“What are they going to be doing? Maybe it’s Chev vs Ford, I don’t know, but I guess it has to change in some way. I just hope it’s for the better.”
Brock said Holden’s demise will leave a void in the motorsport landscape.
Ultimately, he blames a lack of understanding from the parent company General Motors for the brand’s undoing.
“I thought that was a fairly unwise move,” said Brock of General Motors’ decision to drop Holden.
“Holden itself was actually still quite popular in Australia, I don’t think they had a great array of different models of cars for sale.
“Inherently, the Commodore is still a very well thought of car and I thought that because of its history and its standing in Australia as a business that the country is pretty proud of. That was a pretty short-sighted decision to just shut it down.
“It’s a pity. I don’t think Chevrolet, or General Motors, have ever really understood that at all,” he added.
“I’m a fan of America, I’ve been there a few times and I love their motorsport and the people I’ve met over there I really enjoy as well, but, in general, there’s a lot of people who don’t understand Australia at all.”
Supercars said farewell to Holden at this year’s Adelaide 500.
Shane van Gisbergen was officially crowned champion, becoming the final Supercars winner in Holden machinery.
Triple Eight Race Engineering teammate Broc Feeney, named after the late Peter Brock, won the final race of the season carrying a Holden tribute livery at the Adelaide 500.
Earlier this year, van Gisbergen and Garth Tander became the final pairing to win the Bathurst 1000 driving a Holden.
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