Tekno Autosports owner Jonathon Webb has confirmed the leading privateer team is in discussions to run a second car in 2015 alongside the VIP Petfoods entry for Shane van Gisbergen.
But Webb made it clear he would be happy for Tekno to continue on as a single car operation and only a properly funded deal with a driver capable of running competitively would be considered.
“There are a few people sniffing around,” Webb told v8supercars.com.au. “They are looking at a ride and drive thing like Super Black are talking with FPR and things like that.
“We are open to that if someone wants to come in and join now what I think is quite a successful team.”
With Englishman Steve Hallam in charge of the on-track operations this year, van Gisbergen has been competitive at most events in his Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF, has won one V8 Supercars Championship race and currently sits sixth on the points table.
He finished fifth last year while Webb, the 2009 V8 Supercars development series champion, was 12th. Webb’s sabbatical from the cockpit in 2014 has coincided with the birth of his and wife Kobe’s first child, Judd.
Webb has also taken a much stronger role in managing the Tekno road car and racing businesses in 2014.
A re-expansion to two cars for Tekno would be a relatively straight forward task as the team still owns Webb’s Commodore, which has recently been repainted in VIP colours for promotional purposes.
“I still own a car, two engines, two gearboxes, everything, all the spares for it. So it’s a pretty easy job to turn it around,” Webb said.
“But from my side I am just not willing to take the big jump and make the big commitment to try and put that second car back in the field unless I can do it properly.
“I am not loving sitting on the sidelines, but I am quite happy the direction for the long term is me needing to be sitting here controlling the business the way I am rather than the way it was being done before.”
Webb said any deal for a second car Tekno agreed to would have to be both properly funded and have a driver capable of contending for wins.
“We have a figure in mind we know we have to reach to do it properly and it’s not a low budget price. It’s a price so we can do it right so we have a car like Shane’s that can win races and if someone is keen enough and committed enough to do it then we are here to do it.
“If we are going to do it we want two strong cars that can hopefully fight at the front,” Webb added. “There is not a whole lot of drivers in saying that who can do that. It’s competitive and only a handful can run at the front with these guys.”
Despite his own credentials, Webb made it clear he was not actively pursuing a deal to get the second team car back on the track for himself.
“I am not out there chasing funding at all to run my car. We want to run Shane right, give him every chance to win races and if we can get him to do that then I am happy.
“I am enjoying working on the road-car side of the business, enjoying spending more time at home … as much as I love going to the races it’s also awesome to spend some time with my little son, so I am pretty comfortable that I have a got a happy balance of everything at the moment.”
