Leading Dunlop Series team Eggleston Motorsport has bolstered its 2014 campaign by securing the services of Triple Eight engineer John Russell.
The former Williams F1 man led Triple Eight’s own Dunlop Series outfit during the last three seasons, winning the title in 2011 with Andrew Thompson.
With the squad no longer entering its own car in the series, Russell will act as an engineer for Eggleston Motorsport (EMS) on race weekends.
EMS set to campaign three ex-Triple Eight Holdens this season, adding the chassis that Casey Stoner drove in 2013 to its existing stable.
Russell will continue in a workshop role at Triple Eight between meetings and says that linking with the Melbourne-based outfit is a natural move.
“With Triple Eight Race Engineering electing not to run in the 2014 Dunlop Series, it seemed logical to continue my association with the Holden VE model that I have engineered in the last three seasons,” he said.
The veteran engineer is highly enthusiastic about the Dunlop Series’ ability to bread new talent for the main V8 Supercars Championship class.
“The racing benchmark of the series continues to raise the bar each year, echoed with the celebrated ‘class of 2012’ (Scott McLaughlin, Scott Pye, Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat) all in deserved quality V8 Supercars Championship drives in the coming season,” noted Russell of the series.
“Last season saw the series acquire many full specification 2012 V8 Supercars Championship cars which has allowed many of the previously limited teams and drivers to show their worth in 2013.
“With the series organisers making appropriate revisions to the weekend format for 2014 I believe the Dunlop Series now offers an even more representative staircase to the V8SC.”
EMS’ existing crew includes engineer Dan Kroehn, who previously worked with Russell at FPR.
Former Sonic Motor Racing Services runner Garry Jacobson is EMS’ only currently confirmed driver for the 2014 season, which kicks off at Adelaide in late February.
