The first two of Nissan Motorsport’s four co-drivers for the V8 Supercars Championship’s endurance races have been officially confirmed.

As previously reported, David Russell will return to the team for a third consecutive year alongside Todd Kelly, while former Kelly Racing full-timer Karl Reindler will pair with Rick Kelly.

Reindler is competing in the Carrera Cup this year after being dropped by the Braeside-based outfit amid its switch into its factory Nissan guise for 2013.

Daniel Gaunt and Taz Douglas are expected to co-drive alongside Nissan’s Norton backed pilots Michael Caruso and James Moffat respectively, although are yet to be officially announced.

“To have some continuity with a familiar face is for me, extremely important,” said Todd Kelly of retaining Russell.

“We can basically jump in the car and take off from where we left off the last time we drove together at Bathurst.

“We don’t have to learn what each other likes, or learn what a new person is like to work with, so it’s pretty much jump in and get straight down to business with David, which I’m really looking forward to.”

Added Rick Kelly of Reindler: “Karl in my opinion has got a little bit of unfinished business within our team, we had him last year as one of our drivers and particularly towards the later part of the year, he really found his straps and did a fantastic job,” Rick Kelly said.

“It’s been tough for him not to be in the car full time this year, but for him to join myself at the three endurance races is a good opportunity for Karl to jump back in and show that he can do a fantastic job as he did last year.

“For us it’s a great opportunity to get a strong result, I think that Karl and myself as a pairing is as strong as anyone else out there and it certainly gives us a chance of getting a good result.”