Supercheap Auto Racing endurance pairing Russell Ingall and Christian Klien Photo credit: Supercheap Auto Racing
Former Formula 1 driver Christian Klien has signed to drive for Supercheap Auto Racing in this year's V8 Supercars Championship endurance races.
Klien will join 2005 V8 Supercar Champion Russell Ingall in the #66 entry in the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000.
The Austrian co-drove with Paul Dumbrell in the Gold Coast 600 last year and took part in this year's Bathurst 12 Hour GT/production car race finishing ninth overall.
“I am very excited with this opportunity, to be joining Supercheap Auto Racing and Russell Ingall for the biggest V8 Supercar races of the year is an honour,” Klien said.
“After the Gold Coast I was determined to come back and do more V8 races. It is a strong championship with extremely competitive racing, massive crowds and excellent TV coverage throughout the world.
“Mount Panorama is one of the world's great circuits and the Bathurst 1000 is world-famous – it's a must-do race in any racing driver's career.
“To be able to take part in the 50th anniversary Bathurst with one of V8's heroes is exciting – I can't wait to get to the mountain in October.”
Klien's signing comes after he took part in a private test with Walkinshaw Racing at Winton Raceway in April, where he completed over 100 laps in Bathurst-winner Nick Percat's Dunlop Series Commodore.
“I met with [WR Managing Director] Steve Hallam at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide earlier this year and invited me to test for them, which we did last month,” Klien said.
“The test went very well. After I familiarized myself with the car I worked through a program with the engineers and was able to bring my lap times down.
“Walkinshaw Racing is impressive, it is a very professional racing organization with great resources and personnel – the way the test was structured reminded me very much of Formula One.”
Two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Ingall says he's very pleased to have Klien on the team.
“Christian is a world class driver who's reached racing's pinnacle in Formula 1, so he's clearly very talented,” Ingall said.
“He's fast and dedicated. He's flown to Australia four times in the past six months and raced in the Bathurst 12 Hour so he could prepare himself if an enduro drive did eventuate – that says a lot about his character.
“Bathurst is extremely important to this team, not only is it our sponsor, Supercheap Auto's race, but this year's also the 50th anniversary, so it is going to be big.
“The pressure's going to be on, but Christian's used to that. He's the sort of bloke we wanted on our team and I know he's going to do a great job.”
Klien started 49 Grand Prix, making his F1 debut for Jaguar in 2004. He also drove for Red Bull and Hispania Racing and raced in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park three times, finishing seventh with Red Bull in 2005. He continues to be involved in F1, working for Williams F1 as its simulator driver, testing setups overnight following Friday practice sessions.
Klien has also been a test driver for the Honda and BMW F1 teams and drove for Peugeot Sport Total in the Le Mans 24 Hour classic, finishing third outright in 2008 with Ricardo Zonta and Franck Montagny. He finished sixth the following year with Pedro Lamy and Nicolas Minassian.
