Team 18 has confirmed James Golding will partner Mark Winterbottom for next year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup.
The former Garry Rogers Motorsport driver will take up the vacant spot left by Steven Richards, who announced his retirement from Supercars racing earlier this month to take up a relationship manager role at the Charlie Schwerkolt owned team.
Golding had been left searching for a drive for 2020 after GRM elected to exit the Supercars Championship at the end of this season.
An accomplished karter, the 23-year-old has an Australian National title and two Victorian state titles to his name, and his young Supercar career is highlighted with 10th and 11th finishes at the Bathurst 1000.
It is expected Golding will complement this drive with outings in other series to ensure he is sharp for the enduros.
“I am very humbled to be given the opportunity to drive with Frosty at Team 18,” said Golding.
“This was a very tough decision for me to step back from full-time driving, but I feel like it was the best decision for my career to put myself in a good team environment with lots of potential to show my worth at the top level in Australia.
“After a tough season in 2019 with Boost Mobile Racing, I am looking forward to a fresh start working alongside Mark at Irwin Racing in what I believe will be a strong pairing come the Endurance season.
“After having strong performances at Bathurst over the past two seasons, that will be a race that I’m really looking forward to.
“This won’t be my only racing for 2020, I will also be staying sharp through driving in other categories, so that come the end of the season I am well and truly prepared to make that step back into a full-time seat.”
Team owner Schwerkolt believes Golding will prove a perfect partner for Winterbottom.
“It’s great to have James on board, he’s an up and coming Supercar driver who we had an eye on early in the year,” said Schwerkolt.
“James had a tough season this year and a bit of bad luck, but we are sure he will be a great partner for Frosty in 2020 and they will make a great pairing come the Enduro season.”
Team 18 has confirmed that it will reveal the identity of its co-driver for its sister car driven by Scott Pye this week.
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