The last time DJR debuted a new model – BA and BF Falcons

With the new Jim Beam FG Falcons debuting in 2009, it is a worthwhile looking back at the last new model cars the team debuted.

Following 4 tough seasons with the AU Falcon, Ford unveiled its in-house built BA Falcon V8 Supercar prototype at Bathurst 2002, with Dick driving a demonstration lap in the car.

DJR then set about building two BA falcons for the 2003 V8 Supercar season, (DJR BA14 & DJR BA15) later joined by two newer cars in 2004 (DJR BA16) and 2005 (DJR BA17).

DJR BA14

This new chassis was debuted in Shell Helix colours at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix support races, with Steve Johnson driving as Car 17. This was Steve’s car throughout 2003, being joined by Warren Luff for Sandown and Bathurst.
 

It returned with Steve again in Shell colours for the 2004 season, before being rested for the endurance events when a new car (DJR BA16) was debuted. The car came back for Steve to drive at Indy, and remained as car 17 for the rest of the season.

DJR BA14 then became a development series car campaigned by DJR in Gatorz colours for Dean Canto to dominate the 2005 HPDC V8 Supercar Series, taking five wins and a second place from the seven rounds of the series on the way to the title.

The team repainted the car in Latitude Developments colours for the 2006 Fujitsu Series, taking Andrew Thompson to round wins at the Bathurst and Phillip Island rounds.

BA14 was sold by DJR at the end of 2006 to the Prodigy Motorsport team, and is now run by Race Image in Newcastle as car #60, where it has been driven by Jose Fernandez (2007), Damian Assaillit (2008) and Drew Russell (2009).

DJR BA15

Also debuted at the 2003 AGP, DJR BA15 was driven by Max Wilson as Shell Helix car 18. This car was campaigned by Max all year (joined by David Brabham for the enduros), including a podium finish at the season-ending astern Creek round. Warren Luff took over the chassis as car 18 for 2004, save for the endurance races, where Owen Kelly and David Brabham drove the car. 

DJR BA15 also became a development series car for 2005, with Grant Denyer making his V8 Supercar debut (with a large accident) at Adelaide, sponsored by Summit. Grant also finished second (behind Canto in BA14) at the Mallala round. It was again run as the Summit car in 2006 (Luke Youlden drove at Wakefield Park due to Grant’s television commitments), before also being sold to Prodigy Motorsport (now run by Race Image), where it has been raced as #61 by numerous drivers, including Clayton Pyne, Damian Assaillit & Gene Rollinson. 

DJR BA16

Built by the team throughout 2004, DJR BA16 was debuted by Steve Johnson & Warren Luff at the 2004 Sandown 500, with a podium result in its first race. Steve and Warren also raced the car at Bathurst, before being rested from championship series competition for the rest of the year. BA16 did make an appearance at Indy, in the hands of Dick Johnson, taking a competition winner for a hot lap. The car was re-painted into Westpoint colours for the 2005 season, again racing as car #17 driven by Steve, joined by Will Davison for both endurance races. Steve retained this car for 2006, now in FirstRock orange and black, and again was partnered by Davison for Sandown & Bathurst. 

BA16 was completely stripped at the end of 2006, and heavily modified to not only update the car to BF Falcon specification, but also heavily modify & modernize the sub-systems in the car. For 2007, the updated BA16 again raced by Steve as #17, in Jim Beam Racing livery. Steve was joined by Will Davison for Sandown, and also at Bathurst, where the car debuted the Jim Beam and Zero Sugar Cola Livery, challenging for the race win before finishing in third – the team’s first podium since the Sandown 2004 result. The car remained in the Jim Beam and Zero Sugar Cola colours for the rest of the year, including Steve finishing 3rd at the Bahrain round (with the car carrying ‘The Team’ signage with respect to the local culture).

For 2008, the car was again re-painted in an updated Jim Beam Racing livery, and was again raced as car 17 – now the oldest car in the V8Supercar Championship Series field. Steve drove the car at all rounds, except for the endurance races, where Warren Luff & Steve Owen raced the car, in the first time since Bathurst 1977 that the Johnson name was not on car 17. Steve again drove the car from Indy to the end of the year, with the new D-spec engine installed in the car from the Bahrain round onwards. Steve finished 10th in the 2008 Drivers Championship, helping the DJR secure 3rd in the 2008 Teams Championship.

For 2009, the car was transformed into the Yellow & Blue #777 Crimsafe car, driven by Grant Denyer in the Fujitsu V8Supercar Series who returned to the team. After Round One in Adelaide, the car was pressed back into Championship Series service for the Australian Grand Prix Support event one week later. Following a crash severely damaging James Courtney’s new #18 Jim Beam FG Falcon, the team worked tirelessly to convert BA16 into the 2008 Jim Beam Racing car 18 livery – this was done by wrapping the complete car with vinyl, straight over the Crimsafe colours and logos, along with changes to car setup to make James comfortable in the car. Following the Grand Prix, the car has been returned to car #777 colours and setup, for Grant to drive for the remainder of the season.

DJR BA16 has been one of the longest-serving cars in DJR team history, along with holding the record for the most number of different liveries (8) throughout its life with the team: Shell Helix (04), Westpoint (05) FirstRock(06), Jim Beam (07), Jim Beam and Zero Sugar Cola (07), Jim Beam (08), Crimsafe (09), Jim Beam #18 (09). 

DJR BA17

The final BA Falcon built by DJR was constructed for the start of the 2005 season, with new signing Glenn Seton debuting the car (as Westpoint car #18) at the Australian Grand Prix support event. This car was designed to be a stiffer chassis than DJR BA16, and there are significant differences between the chassis design of the two cars. Glen raced the car throughout 2005, being joined by Dean Canto for the enduros. Will Davison took control of the car 18 for 2006, painted in orange & black V8 Telecom colours from the beginning of the year until Round 5 at Hidden Valley, before being repainted into blue & white Accor Premiere Vacation Club (APVC) colours from Queensland Raceway (Round 6) until the end of the year. With Davison driving BA16 for the endurance races, Alex Davison (Will’s older brother) and Grant Denyer drove the car at Sandown & Bathurst.

As was the case for DJR BA16, the BA17 was completely stripped & heavily upgraded to update the car to BF Falcon specs. Will Davison continued in the car (still as #18), now in Jim Beam colours for 2007, except for Alex Davison & Andrew Thompson driving in the enduros, when Will once again drove car #17. Like BA16, the car was painted in the Jim Beam & Zero Sugar Cola colours from Bathurst to the end of the season, with Will finishing 4th at Bahrain (like the other car, carrying ‘The Team’ signage).

Following the 2007 season, DJR BA17 was sent to the United Kingdom, along with DJR Engineers, for Shaker-rig and Wind Tunnel testing, allowing the team to develop & test Chassis & Aerodynamic setups on the car to improve performance. Some of these developments were duplicated onto DJR BA16 upon return to Australia.

Will Davison raced the car for one more season in 2008, again in Jim Beam livery. The car ran fairly competitively at Round One in Adelaide, however at Round Two at Eastern Creek, Davison won the round with 2nd, 1st and 6th place results over the three races – Davison’s first round win, and the team’s first round win since the 2001 Queensland 500. The car remained competitive all year, in the top ten at most rounds, including another race win at Winton – where Davison was equal on points for the round win, but was awarded third place on a results countback. The car was fitted with the new D-spec engine for the Philip Island 500km endurance race, this being one of the reasons that Steve Johnson joined Will for the enduros in car #18 (including 3rd place in the Phillip Island 500), instead of in car #17, as had been the case for the previous 3 years. Davison drove the car to the end of the year, finishing 5th in the Drivers Championship & also helping to achieve DJR’s 3rd place in the Teams Championship.

Following the conclusion of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, DJR BA17 has been partially stripped and painted white. The car is presently stored in the DJR Workshop, as a spare or reserve car, until the arrival of a third FG Falcon chassis later in the year. 

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