Coulthard to join Tasman for enduros
14/8/2004 14:40 (Press Release) -
Promising young New Zealander Fabian Coulthard has been selected by Tasman Motorsport to partner Jason Richards in the #3 VY Commodore for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduro races.
Coulthard, 21, tested recently with Tasman during a test day at the team’s home track, Sydney’s Oran Park, and will also drive the team’s spare VX Commodore in Round 8 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Oran Park prior to the enduro races.
Tasman general manager Jon Matthews said Coulthard had impressed the team with his speed and maturity.
“Fabian was an outstanding candidate and we’re thrilled to be able to invite him to join us,” he said. “We see him as one of the genuine up-and-coming stars of motorsport and we’re pleased to be able to provide him with his first drive in V8 Supercars.
“We thought it was important to give him a drive at Oran Park in a race situation so he can really hit the ground running at Sandown.”
Coulthard has this year been a leading contender in the highly competitive Porsche-based Carrera Cup series, currently 3rd in that series behind fellow young gun Alex Davison and experienced campaigner Jim Richards.
A brilliant background in open-wheeler racing has paved the way for Coulthard’s first foray into V8 Supercars – a multiple national junior kart champion in New Zealand, he graduated to Formula Ford to win the NZ national championship in 2001/02, then to the Asian Festival of Speed in Malaysia in 2002 where he won two rounds driving a “wings and slicks” AF2000.
After attending the renowned Marsh Talented Drivers Program early in 2003, Coulthard accepted an opportunity to compete in the highly regarded British Formula Renault Championship, where he was placed 8th after 11 rounds when a lack a funding saw him return home to NZ, then come to Australia in 2004 to race with Greg Murphy Racing for the Carrera Cup season.
“It’s a great opportunity for me and one that I’m thrilled has come in just my first year of tin-top racing in Australia,” he said.
“Tasman is a great fit for me, Jason and I have known each other for years and Kevin Murphy’s link with both Tasman and GMR, means I already know a lot of the crew and won’t be afraid to ask questions.”
Coulthard will join fellow Kiwi Jason Richards – both grew up and raced as juniors in Auckland – in the team’s newly minted VY Commodore for an all-out assault on the two enduro races.
Richards said he was excited to be joined by an old friend and adversary in the Tasman Motorsport car. “Fabian’s a few years younger than me, but we have raced against each other a few times and known each other for many years,” he said.
“From what I observed on the test day, Fabian has the ability to learn quickly and the confidence to back himself, which is critical in a field of 35 V8 Supercars. And we’ve seen in the Carrera Cup that he has outright speed – he could be a future star in this category.”
Matthews said the Tasman Motorsport team, formed this year under the stewardship of former Lansvale Racing Team directors Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby joined by expatriate Kiwis Kevin Murphy and Tim Miles, would hold back nothing in their quest to succeed in the critical enduro races.
“This year was always going to be a transitional one for us, and we’ve certainly got nothing to lose by taking a pretty hard-nosed approach into the enduro races,” Matthews said.
“We’ve got a good car and a strong driver pairing, and I have every confidence that they can be very competitive over the longer distance. We’d be delighted with a Top 10 finish in each race.”
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