Tyler Greenbury has confirmed that sponsorship issues have forced him out of the Dunlop Super2 Series for the time being.
The Queenslander had started the first two rounds of 2018 in Matt Stone Racing’s 2017 title-winning VF Commodore, but that seat will be filled this weekend by another Super2 newcomer in Jaie Robson.
Greenbury has explained that his season started on the back foot when a sponsorship deal fell through completely before Round 1 in Adelaide, now culminating in him being on the sidelines for Round 3 this weekend at Barbagallo Raceway.
“Sponsorship is a hard thing and I thought we had a fair thing locked away at the start of the year and it just didn’t turn out to be what it was meant to be, to be honest,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“We had another main sponsor locked in and it was meant to be a fairly long deal but it didn’t eventuate. About a week before Adelaide, it fell through.
“Luckily last minute we had WP Concreting come onboard for Adelaide and AWC Driver Academy come onboard for Tasmania to sponsor me and take that role for those two events. Also, Edge Designer Homes has been a massive backer for me behind the scenes this year.”
Greenbury hopes to return to Super2 before season’s end if possible, but only if he can land stable backing.
The 25-year-old felt restricted by having to take an extra cautious approach to Adelaide and Round 2 at Symmons Plains given the financial shortfall to cover any damage.
“It made it pretty hard for me, to have that pressure on you going into the rounds (of) not having much budget there to really get into it,” said Greenbury.
“It held me back a little bit at those first two rounds; I couldn’t put in my full potential.
“Now it’s just got to the point where I couldn’t find anyone for Western Australia.
“I’d like to stay in Super2 if I can get a decent sponsor onboard. Obviously I’ll keep trying.
“It’s a shame to have to drop out now but if I’m going to do it I want to do it properly as well. I don’t want to have the funding thing in the back of my mind all the time.
“We went into the testing at the start of the year and we showed really good speed and then a week before Adelaide I found out about this and it just changes everything as a driver.”
Greenbury currently sits 13th in the series with a best race result of 12th in Race 2 in Adelaide.
Paul Dumbrell is the series leader ahead of Round 3 which supports the Perth SuperSprint from Friday.
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