Woodstock Racing has secured young up-and-coming Australian driver, Shae Davies, to co-drive alongside Andy Booth for the upcoming BNT V8 SuperTourers endurance series set to start next weekend at Hampton Downs.

In his relatively short driving career and in his first year of tin top racing, 23-year-old Davies has already enjoyed success in the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup Championship having the round win at Sydney Motorsport Park in May. Davies also set a new lap record on his way to a dominant race win at the most recent Carrera Cup round at Winton, proving his abundant natural pace in this highly competitive controlled specification class.

Booth said: “Shae was brought to my attention a while back so I’ve been keeping a close eye on his progress during the year. After his success at Winton against experienced drivers like Craig Baird, Steven Richards and Warren Luff, I knew we’d have to make it happen.

“The rest of the Woodstock Racing team is also rapt to have Shae on-board and we’re all really looking forward to getting back on the track after our first V8 SuperTourer race win in the Woodstock Commodore and seeing what we can do as a team.”

Davies also leads the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series in Australia after four rounds with an 80 point advantage, despite this being his first year in saloon cars. The Queenslander says he can’t wait to head to New Zealand to gain extra experience.

“I’m hugely excited to have been offered the co-driver in the Woodstock Commodore with Andy. I’ve been watching the series closely since its inception and I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to have a crack,” said Davies.

“The cars are clearly very close and the talent pool in the series is great so I really can’t wait to get amongst it.”

On the back of Booth’s recent success at the previous V8SuperTourer round at Taupo, where the Woodstock Team took their first race win, both Woodstock Racing drivers say they are keen to continue that winning trend in the endurance events.

“Andy has been doing a fantastic job this season, as demonstrated at the last round, so I’m determined to get some strong results for the team and hopefully continue their success,” said Davies.

Booth agrees with Davies and adds: “I fully expect us to be highly competitive with this combination at the endurance rounds. The Woodstock Commodore’s setup is great, the team is working incredibly hard to make sure everything is perfect, and Shae seems like the right man for the job, especially because of his recent successes across the ditch.”

Fortunately for the Woodstock Racing team, both Booth and Davies are exactly the same height, giving the team another great advantage with the ease of setting up the cockpit and making the important mid-race driver changes easier.

“We couldn’t have planned that any better,” said Booth. “Being the same height will save our team a lot of time during the race and will definitely make the preparation a lot more straightforward.”

Davies arrives in New Zealand just prior to the first of the BNT V8 SuperTourer endurance rounds which starts on 28 September 2013, before two more rounds held at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe in October and late November.