Topline privateer Jonathon Webb has joined Scott McLaughlin for the three V8 SuperTourer endurance races in New Zealand.
The pair will share the wheel of the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore starting with the Father’s Day 400 at Ricoh Motorsports Park, Taupo from September 1-2.
Most of the 20-car grid has announced its driver pairings for the V8ST long distance triple crown however one of the cars yet to name a co-driver is McLaughlin’s sister Super Cheap Auto Commodore which was driven by Geoff Emery earlier in the year in the sprint rounds.
The team is being tight-lipped as to the identity of Emery’s partner but V8ST chief executive Didier Debae has said that the series was looking to secure several drivers from outside of the Antipodes.
The McLaughlin/Webb fit works perfectly as the pair will combine in Webb’s Tekno Autosports Commodore for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 in September and October.
“Webby has been terrific to us. It’s a good clean team and Bruce Jenkins is doing a great job there managing the team,” Wayne McLaughlin, father of Scott, and who is also the team owner and a V8ST stakeholder said.
“It’s a common mix for us to put Webby in the car and both the guys get on well and are a very similar build.”
“They are both pretty hard racers and will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Scott McLaughlin has enjoyed a signature season punctuated shortly before his 19th birthday with a history-making V8 Supercars Development Series round win at Barbagallo when he became the youngest V8 race and round winner.
Similarly Webb who has campaigned a clean-skin Commodore that runs KRE-built engines, the same supplier which powers the powerful TeamVodafone squad, for the majority of the season has shown flashes of form this year.
The McLaughlin/Webb combination is rated as one of the dark horses for the enduros with the second round, the Pukekohe 500k scheduled from October 26-28 with the final at Ruapuna, Christchurch from November 24-25.
“We floated the idea back when I was first signing on with Tekno for the Australian endurance events and I’m just wrapped to have him join me for the New Zealand events,” McLaughlin told Speedcafe.co.nz.
“We struggled earlier this year with some teething issues but our car speed has been excellent and with Jono joining us I’m sure we can give the three SuperTourer long distance events a real crack.”
Webb is excited about his trans-tasman engagement: “I’m looking forward to teaming up with Scotty for the NZ endurance races, especially following his recent successes.”
“The team and car are heading in the right direction and I think we have a great chance at winning some races.”
The team endured overheating problems with the engine early in the sprint rounds and were forced to miss the Manfeild meeting and there has been some issues with the transmission however the team is confident of fielding a competitive attack starting with Taupo.
