DJR coup: Bright and McLean sign-on for enduros
4/5/2000 14:25 (Jason Whittaker) - Dick Johnson Racing have achieved a major coup today, signing Jason Bright and Cameron McLean for the team's endurance assault later this year.
It appears the contracts and chequebooks have, even in early May, begun to make an appearance in the race to sign driving talent for the impending bi-driver endurance events. DJR have today taken a significant step in winning that race, confirming they had secured the prized signatures of Bright and McLean.
Despite being signed for the FAI 1000, Bright (above) will be unable to
compete in the Queensland 500 due to his Indy Lights commitments in Laguna Seca
|
The talent Queenslanders will join Johnson full-timer's Paul Radisich and Steven Johnson to form a formidable driving squadron come the end of the season.
"There's some heavy bidding going on out there at the moment, so I'm pleased to have everything locked away, especially when we're talking drivers the calibre of Jason Bright and Cameron McLean," an obviously delighted Team principal, Dick Johnson, said.
"The endurance races are going to be crucial to the outcome of the championship so it's essential to have blokes in the car who not only know the tracks, but are thoroughly familiar with the AU Falcon."
"Both Jason and Cameron fit that bill perfectly and I expect our driver line-up to be one of the strongest out there," he said.
While both Bright and McLean will drive for the team at the FAI 1000 in November, Indy Lights commitments will keep Bright for competing at the Queensland 500 in September. A fifth member of the DJR endurance squad is yet to be named.
Johnson today refused to comment on possible driver combinations, however a Radisich/Bright and Johnson/McLean combo would appear the most likely line-up.
"As far as driver pairings go, we'll make an announcement on that a little further down the track once we've sorted out how we're going to handle the Queensland 500," Johnson said.
Jason Bright will start this year's Bathurst event with a full season of Indy Lights driving behind him. Finishing second in his debut Lights race in the United States two weeks ago, Bright has already announced his intentions to compete at CART level this year, including making a welcome start at the Gold Coast Indy event.
While his overseas open-wheeler ambitions are still at the fore front of his mind, Bright was keen to return to Mt. Panorama and add a second Bathurst crown to his already impressive resume.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the team that set the pace at Bathurst last year," the 27-year-old said.
"Dick Johnson Racing is one of the most professional V8 Supercar teams in the country, they know what it takes to win and they're as hungry for it as I am."
"Together I think we've got a great chance of taking victory at The Mountain," he said.
While the decision to abandon his own team and race with the rival DJR operation was difficult, McLean saw the drive for the Johnson stable his best chance of success.
"That was a very hard decision for me, but realistically we don't have the budget to do the endurance races properly, so my best chance is to join a team that can throw everything they have at it," the 32-year-old said.
"DJR is definitely that team, they showed last year at Bathurst that they had the package and they're the in-form Ford team at the minute, so I'm more than confident all of that will carry on to the end of the year," he said.
The Johnson Falcons set the pace for much of last year's 1000km epic, before a blown tyre ended what looked like certain victory for Paul Radisich and Steven Ellery.
The team did, however, show superior horse-power around the 6.2km track which would still be a major concern for any of Johnson's rivals come Bathurst weekend this year.
The father and son combination of Dick and Steven Johnson finished fourth in last year's race.
| |
