Walkinshaw Racing lures Adrian Burgess

Adrian Burgess will replace Steve Hallam as the managing director of Walkinshaw Racing next year. The former Red Bull Racing Australia team principal was immediately released from his current position by Roland Dane after he became aware of the unforseen defection.

In what was a largely unexpected turn of events, Red Bull Racing Australia team-owner, Roland Dane, informed his employees this morning that Burgess would immediately vacate the role of team principal. Dane will now fill the void left by the highly sought after team principal as the Banyo-based team attempts to elongate their dominance under the new Car of the Future regulations.

The news was made public via a statement by Ryan Walkinshaw on Wednesday afternoon, in which he thanked Hallam for his efforts since taking the reins of Walkinshaw Racing in January 2012.

“On behalf of Walkinshaw Racing, our commercial partners and fans, I would like to express my gratitude to Steve for his dedication and incredible work” said Walkinshaw. “Steve and I have discussed the restructuring progress, and both his and the team’s long-term futures, and formulated a plan around those.”
“We had to ensure the right long-term succession approach and with a limited field of suitable candidates, and interest from one of those candidates, we have brought forward the timeline from that which we had originally identified. Steve will continue in his role until the end of the year.”

Walkinshaw also praised Hallam’s endeavours in overseeing the organisation which runs both the Holden Racing Team and Supercheap Auto Racing.

“Steve was given the task of rebuilding the organisation, and in a short time he has orchestrated the VF Commodore development and build program, strengthened our management, restructured various departments and operations, and implemented a range of new processes and strategies,” he said. “Steve will leave the team in a much stronger position and with a restored winning culture.”

Under Hallam’s guidance as managing director, the factory squad has only tasted victory on one occasion. However, the 61 year-old was not without top-level experience when he was appointed by Walkinshaw Racing, having had a lengthy stint in Formula 1 with McLaren, as well as a brief period as the director of race engineering at Michael Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 2009 until 2011.

Walkinshaw was, however, quick to sing the praises of his newly appointed managing director, who has overseen the dominance of Triple Eight Race Engineering since 2011.

“Adrian’s experience, leadership skills and passion for winning make him the ideal candidate to continue to build on what Steve has achieved and lead Walkinshaw Racing into the future.”

Like Hallam, Burgess also has notable experience within the global motorsport scene, including an eight year stay at McLaren where he worked with Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. He was the number one mechanic in the former’s 1998 championship-winning campaign.

More recently, the Briton was ensnared by Dick Johnson Racing in 2010, where in his role as team manager, he oversaw James Courtney’s 2010 V8 Supercar Championship triumph. Courtney, a close friend of Burgess, recently penned a three-year contract extension with Walkinshaw Racing, which will see him stay with the organisation until at least the end of 2016.

The Holden Racing Team secured its first victory since the 2011 Bathurst 1000 at this year’s Sucrogen Townsville 400, and is experiencing somewhat of a revival with former champions Garth Tander, James Courtney and Russell Ingall spearheading the team’s attempt to arrest Red Bull Racing Australia’s sustained supremacy.