BEFORE the Supercars come the ultimate truck - when Team 18 left their Mount Waverley base on Tuesday morning on route to Bathurst it was with a transporter leading the way.
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The Holden Commodores of Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye were loaded in to brand-new Kenworth T909 which will carry them to Mount Panorama - the battle ground for the season opening Bathurst 500.
While the Bathurst 500 will not feature a Pantech parade like the one Supercars fans flock to watch during the Bathurst 1000, the transporters are still a vital part of the series.
"We transport the cars all over Australia through some of the harshest conditions in the world, so it's critical to have a reliable truck that can haul the load well and deliver our equipment to the next event on time, every time," Team 18 boss Charlie Schwerkolt said.
"It's [new Kenworth] the ultimate truck. It's the biggest truck you can get, the toughest-looking truck, it's got heritage, style and class and it will be the envy of every team in the pit lane.
"We have over a million dollars' worth of cars, plus another half a million dollars of spares and equipment to keep the team on track."
Team 18's truck driver Mark Nelson will drive the T909 prime mover over 70,000 kilometres this year, pulling a B-double trailer with over 50 tonnes of equipment to the 13 rounds across Australia, including Bathurst, through the red centre to Darwin and across the iconic Nullarbor Plain to Perth.
The Bathurst 500 begins on Friday.