Walkinshaw Racing has finalised its driver line-up for the Armor All Gold Coast 600 international V8 Supercars event.
The team has confirmed Australian IZOD IndyCar Series driver Ryan Briscoe will drive the team’s #2 Holden Racing Team Commodore alongside Garth Tander for a second straight year, while Scottish Sportscar driver Peter Dumbreck will co-drive the #66 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore with dual Bathurst winner Russell Ingall.
Dumbreck and Briscoe join Englishman Darren Turner who was announced as a starter at the event’s official launch in June (see the article here). Turner who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, returns to partner James Courtney in the #22 Holden Racing Team entry.
Dumbreck has a long and successful career, winning races in every category he has contested from Formula Vauxhall to Super GT Japan and Germany’s DTM. He currently drives a HPD LMP1 Sportscar in the FIA World Endurance Championship for JRM, where he partners David Brabham and Karun Chandhok.
“I’m really excited to be racing V8 Supercars,” Dumbreck said. “I watched last year’s race on TV – it was a great spectacle, the racing was close and the track looks amazing. The cars are close to my heart, similar in ways to DTM and Super GT.
“I’ve also heard they are difficult to drive, so I’m under no illusion that I’ll jump in and be quick straight away. The pre-race test will be important for me to get my head around the car and what I need to do to take care of it for Russell and his championship.”
Briscoe returns for his fourth campaign with the Holden Racing Team having made his V8 Supercar debut in the 2006 Sandown 500 alongside Jim Richards. He drove a Walkinshaw/Bundaberg Red Commodore with Andrew Thompson at Bathurst in 2010 and partnered Will Davison on the Gold Coast a fortnight later before teaming up with Tander last year.
Briscoe is one of Australia’s most talented drivers with championship and race wins in categories such as Formula Renault, F3, Sportscars and Indycars, while also having been a test driver for the Toyota F1 team. In seven Indycar seasons, Briscoe has a series best finish of third (2009), with seven race wins and 12 poles to his credit, including pole for this year’s Indianapolis 500 – the first Australian to do so.
Briscoe, Dumbreck and Turner will all join Walkinshaw Racing for the pre-Gold Coast international driver test day at Queensland Raceway on 17 October.
The Armor All Gold Coast 600 takes place on the streets of Surfers Paradise on 19-21 October.