MOTORSPORT: Coulthard officially on the move

Fabian Coulthard’s confirmation he is leaving Brad Jones Racing should signal the beginning of the final phase of V8 Supercar driver movement – the bit where they stop talking to potential teams and actually sign with one.

That’s because Coulthard has been pretty much the lynchpin to the whole thing as the most valuable property on the market. The 33-year old Kiwi, who is in his fourth and final season at Brad Jones Racing, is now expected to sign for DJR Team Penske, meaning the likes of David Reynolds, James Moffat, Tim Slade, Scott Pye and several others will start slotting in to available seats.

Coulthard has long been linked with the new-for-2015 amalgam of V8 icon Dick Johnson’s Ford team and US motor racing legend Roger Penske. And while he hasn’t signed anything yet, his BJR engineer Phil Keed has been recruited by the team.

There’s no doubt Keed is one of the best engineers in V8s and that he and Coulthard have scored significant success together at BJR over the past three seasons, including five wins and the Bathurst qualifying lap record.

Intriguingly, there are also rumours that veteran Englishman Steve Hallam will swap from Tekno Autosports – the current team of the talented Shane van Gisbergen who moves to Red Bull Racing in 2016 – to DJRTP to manage a significant restructure of the privateer Ford outfit.

Of course, the Penske team was originally Marcos Ambrose’s vehicle back into V8s. He stepped out of the car after two rounds, has rejoined as co-driver to Pye for the enduros and has stated he will clarify his future after the Gold Coast 600 in late October.

Coulthard revealed his decision to leave BJR on the Inside Supercars television program last night, only hours after his management had informed team co-owner Brad Jones he wouldn’t be piloting the Freightliner Commodore beyond this year.

“I haven’t signed anything yet – obviously I haven’t formalised anything. I’ve let BJR know that I am going to move on but like you say, I haven’t formalised anything as yet.

“I just have to evaluate everything as it is. Like I said, I’ve got options, I need to work out what’s best for me and my future and see where I end up.”

Meanwhile, Jones was defiant about the loss of his star driver, insisting the Albury team – which has risen from the ranks of mediocrity to be front-runners over the last few years – will continue to be winners.

“The truth is I knew months ago he wasn’t going to be with us, so it’s not news to me,” Jones said.

“If that sounds bitter, it’s not meant to.

“So we are actively sorting out who is going to be driving the car.

“I think with the people that we are looking at we will be in the position to fight for race wins and I am intending to be vying for the championship next year with car 14.”

The driver thought to be at the top of BJR’s list is Reynolds, who also hails from Albury. He currently drives ‘The Bottle-O’ Ford Falcon FG X for
Prodrive Racing Australia and runs third in the championship behind team-mates Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert.

But there are decent seats also potentially available at Walkinshaw Racing, Tekno, Nissan Motorsport and Garry Rogers Motorsport (Volvo), depending on how the driver market moves and where sponsorship backing from companies such as Supercheap Auto and The Bottle-O ends up.