Shae Davies will step into Erebus Motorsport’s #4 Holden for the remainder of the Supercars season, the team has confirmed.
Already signed to co-drive the car in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, Davies has struck a deal to add the Sydney Motorsport Park, Pukekohe and Sydney Olympic Park events to his schedule.
Fellow Erebus enduro driver Craig Baird had steered the entry in a one-off capacity at Ipswich last month following the exit of full-time driver Aaren Russell.
A sponsor and livery for Davies will be confirmed on Thursday when the driver takes to Winton for a rookie day ahead of the August 26-28 SMP event.
Davies’ Supercars Championship debut will come halfway through his second Dunlop Series season, where he drives a previous-generation Ford for MW Motorsport.
“This is a dream come true, since I started racing in 2010 it’s been my goal to race full-time in the Supercars Championship and to be here now is a surreal feeling,” Davies said.
“It’s been a challenging couple of years leading up to this point, with some great results but also some character building weekends.
“As a driver, you often wonder whether a chance like this will come, but I’ve got to give a huge thanks to Betty and Daniel (Klimekno) and Barry (Ryan) for having the faith in me to give me this opportunity.
“I don’t underestimate what’s ahead of me. It will be exceptionally challenging but a challenge I can’t wait to start.
“The current main game field is world class. My job will be to head into each round focused, learn as much as I can from the team and do the best job I can, improving every outing.”
Davies has already driven the #4 Commodore during co-driver practice sessions this season in preparation for the enduros.
Although proving competitive will be a tough ask in the main game field, Erebus general manager Barry Ryan is confident that Davies can put in a respectable showing.
“I first noticed Shae during his Formula Ford campaign when he was mixing it with the likes of (Chaz) Mostert, (Cameron) Waters, (Jack) Le Brocq and (Garry) Jacobson,” Ryan said.
“I’ve watched him closely and he’s punched above his weight in a number of categories with guys that have been doing it twice as long.
“Shae has nothing to prove, we already know what he is capable of; we saw that when he drove with our GT program in New Zealand last year.”
Erebus is yet to confirm who will partner Davies in the car for the Pirtek Enduro Cup, which kicks off at Sandown on September 15-17.
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