All guns blazing at DJR: Bright to partner Radisich at Bathurst
1/11/2000 19:33 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Jason Bright will next month step off a plane from the United States and into the car many are saying provides Ford’s best chance of Bathurst glory in many a year, after Dick Johnson today announced his pairings for next month’s Mountain epic.
Johnson will pair his two biggest guns – in-form Shell Series charger Paul Radisich and US Indy sensation Jason Bright – in the race-favourite No. 18 DJR Falcon for next month’s race. It will form the most formidable Ford-powered Bathurst package in over a decade.
Johnson Jnr., Steven, and young Greenfield Mowers recruit Cameron McLean, will pilot the famous No. 17 DJR machine.
After much conjecture, Johnson confirmed the pairings after testing at Queensland Raceway a fortnight ago.
Bright sizzled in his first V8 Supercar outing since Bathurst last year at the test, prompting Johnson to enter Bright alongside Radisich for his Supercar comeback.
"Deciding on the final driver pairings wasn’t an easy task," Team principal Johnson explained.
"We obviously know what Paul and Steve are capable of and Cameron was a known quantity in one of our cars after the Queensland 500, but I wanted to get Jason back into a V8 Supercar and have a look at the data before I made a final decision.”
"He hasn’t driven a V8 since Bathurst last year, but it didn’t take him long to settle back into the car and his times from the day were very close to Paul’s, so it was really a logical choice," he said.
The decision has Bright – who made his CART debut on the streets of Surfers Paradise a matter of days before the DJR test – quietly confident of adding a second Bathurst trophy to his mantle.
"Last year the Shell cars at Bathurst were just about untouchable and the team’s recent form suggests they have the package once again, so I’m looking forward to having that sort of advantage this year," 27-year-old Bright said.
"Paul is a very fast driver and as long as we get our strategy and pit stops right I think we’ve got a very good chance,” he said.
The former Stone Brothers racer (the team that helped Bright to his first Bathurst victory in 1998) finished sixth in his debut Indy Lights season after a 14th-place finish at the final round in California last weekend. He’s hoping to secure funding to pick-up a full-time CART drive next season.
"If all goes well in the States this might be the last opportunity I have to drive at Mt Panorama for a number of years, so I want to make this one really count," Bright said.
Paul Radisich, paired with young Queenslander Steven Ellery, came within a whisker of victory at Bathurst last year before a flat tyre robbed the pair of a debut win.
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