Dick Johnson Racing has undergone a change in its engineering department ahead of the first Australian event on the V8 Supercars calendar in Adelaide later this month.
Experienced race car tuner Greg Wheeler has been contracted to engineer Steve Johnson’s #17 Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon FG, replacing Frenchman Nicholas Duval who has left the team.
Wheeler has worked in many different forms of motorsport – including Formula One, V8 Supercars and A1 Grand Prix. His V8 resume includes stints at Larkham Motorsport, WPS Racing and Dick Johnson Racing’s Fujitsu Series team.
Long-time DJR employee Mark Woolfrey will remain as the team’s chief engineer overseeing car set-up and strategy of both Johnson’s car and the #18 entry of Main Series rookie James Moffat. Moffat will continue to be engineered by Perry Kapper.
DJR’s General Manager Glenn Turnor says that Wheeler is a perfect fit for the rebuilding team.
“We’ve done some internal restructing at DJR,” he told Speedcafe.com.au.
“Greg has a lot of experience and knowledge in a number of categories. He worked with DJR in 2009 to engineer Grant Denyer’s #777 Crimsafe car and it’s great to have Greg back on board. He’ll be with us for our test day this Thursday and the next race at the Clipsal 500.
“This is only a minor change, but it’s all part of the challenges to rebuild the race team.
“Steve had good speed and results at Abu Dhabi. And we are working very hard to improve the results and our performance on the track.”
Johnson currently sits 16th in the V8 Supercars Championship, despite a promising display in Race 2 where he fought with Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom for the lead mid-race.
DJR will be on track this Thursday at Queensland Raceway for its first ‘solo’ test of the year.
In other DJR news, look for David Besnard to partner Johnson in the V8 Supercars enduros. CLICK HERE for yesterday’s Speedcafe.com.au story.
