Super-size double
Brabham to drive trucks and cars in Gold Coast 600 assault
MOTORSPORT gun Matt Brabham will be revving things up at the Gold Coast 600 – racing both in Supercars and Super Trucks.
The Gold Coast 23-yearold who has been competing in Stadium Super Trucks in Australia and overseas has been signed up for a Supercars drive, too.
Brabham, the grandson of three-time Formula One champion Sir Jack Brabham, has secured a co-drive role with Preston Hire Racing for the 2018 Supercars Championship’s endurance races.
That means he will drive alongside Preston Hire Racing’s Lee Holdsworth in the Pirtek Enduro Cup events which are the Bathurst 1000, Sandown 500 and Gold Coast 600.
The Super Trucks weren’t included at the Gold Coast 600 last year but will be back on the Glitter Strip for 2018 and Brabham will be aiming to race both trucks and V8s.
The deal, brokered by Preston Hire Racing owner Charlie Schwerkolt, also involves Brabham taking part in extensive Supercar testing and ride-day programs.
The co-drive contract comes a week after Brabham teamed up with fellow young gun Aaron Seton and veteran Tony Longhurst to win the Bathurst 12-hour race C-class event last week in The Boat Works BMW GT4.
“I had my first (Bathurst) experience at Mt Panorama last weekend in the 12-hour and to know that the next time I will be heading back there will be in a Supercar is pretty cool,” Brabham yesterday.
“Lee is a first-class operator and has always been good to me and I am sure we will complement each other.
“To be provided an opportunity like this and to be paid as a professional driver is a position that I obviously appreciate and will be protecting by doing the best job I can,” he said.
Brabham competed fulltime in the Stadium Super Trucks last year but made his Supercars championships debut in Perth in a one-off said drive for Lucas Motorsports.
“The one-off ride last year in Perth gave me a small taste of what Supercars is about and I can’t wait to get out there.”
In 2016, Brabham, who had spent several years in the US chasing his Indycar racing dream, debuted in the famed Indy 500 in its 100th anniversary year.
He finished a creditable 22nd for Pirtek Team Murray, a team put together by Gold Coast motorsport veteran Brett “Crusher’’ Murray. Dumbrell