GRM and Erebus confirm endurance pairings

There have been more confirmations of V8 Supercar endurance pairings in recent days, with both Garry Rogers Motorsport and Erebus Motorsport confirming driver combinations for the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 later in the year. The announcements come with just under three months until the field lines up at Sandown for the opening event of the inaugural endurance cup.

The Melbourne-based Garry Rogers Motorsport outfit had previously announced their endurance pilots in Jack Perkins and Greg Ritter; however the team’s driver pairings were unconfirmed. Jack Perkins will share the wheel with Scott McLaughlin in a fast yet youthful combination, while seasoned veteran Greg Ritter will partner Frenchman Alexandre Premat.

Jack Perkins, the son of V8 Supercar legend Larry Perkins, has participated in endurance events since 2006 as both a primary driver and a co-driver. The 26 year old was the only co-driver to qualify at last year’s Bathurst 1000 as a result of Alexandre Premat’s struggles in his first visit to Mount Panorama.

Greg Ritter has a long history in Australian motorsport, including 48 top tier starts in the V8 Supercar category. The Victorian has achieved impressive results in endurance events throughout his career, including victory at the 2004 Sandown 500 alongside Marcos Ambrose and a best result of 4th in the Bathurst 1000 for Dick Johnson Racing. Ritter’s experience can only benefit Premat, who continues to ascertain valuable knowledge of Australian circuits.

Erebus Motorsport has also confirmed that Andrew Thompson will share Tim Slade’s Heavy Haulage Australia backed AMG Mercedes. The successful partnership will reunite in 2013, having netted two 7th place finishes at Sandown and Bathurst last year.

Thompson was optimistic about once again teaming up with Tim Slade, and believes that the pair can improve on last year’s results despite Erebus’ struggles in their inaugural season.
“We had a great run last year and I think there are still a lot of improvements Tim and myself can make,” Thompson said. “If I do my job well then I think we can make a step up on last year, although they are long races and anything can happen.”

Tim Slade was also keen to rekindle the successful combination with Thompson after achieving some promising results for the Gold-Coast based outfit in recent rounds.
“When the discussion came up about co-drivers the one and only name to pop up in my head was his [Andrew Thompson], so to have that continuity is really good. This year’s endurance races will be a little unknown for all the teams as we haven’t really had any long races this year in the new cars.”

While the announcement hasn’t officially occurred, it is expected that the final co-driver opening at Erebus Motorsport will be filled by veteran Kiwi Craig Baird, who is likely to team up with Lee Holdsworth for Irwin Racing.

The opening endurance event for 2013 will take place at Sandown on the 15th of September, while a dedicated co-driver practise session will be held at this weekend’s Sucrogen Townsville 400.