Jim Morton’s Ford XB Coupe has been sold and will compete in the next round of the Touring Car Masters at Phillip Island next weekend.
The popular Touring Car Masters entry, formally driven by Australian Touring Car champion Glenn Seton, has been purchased by former Holden HQ Monaro competitor Keith Kassulke.
Kassulke, a Papua New Guinean, has completed two test days at Winton to get his eye in with his new purchase, one accompanied by reigning series champion John Bowe.
Kassulke will debut the Coupe at the Phillip Island round, supporting the Shannons Nationals, before stepping back into his Monaro in the next round at Darwin.
“While I am ecstatic with my results in the past year with the HQ, I feel that I can do better and with this new car, I hope to be able to work with it to improve my skills and, ultimately, have a podium finish,” Kassulke said.
“I’m now going to debut the XB at Philip Island, no doubt one of the best circuits in Australia, so this next week will be going by very quickly, even with another trip home to PNG before we go racing.
“I’ve always been a GM man, but I was impressed from the outset at the build quality of Jim Morton’s XB Falcon so, when it became available for sale, I thought about it for a few months then went to inspect it, and it really is a beautifully built car so full credit to Jim for that.
“We had a very good test, and after my second day in it, I’m getting a feel for the way it handles now, being quite different of course to my Monaro.”
Kassulke is supported by Air Nuigini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea.
In other Touring Car Masters news, former champion Gavin Bullas had a test day at Phillip Island hampered by a pair of local geese who had wandered onto the circuit.
Bullas struck one of the birds at the final turn yesterday, sending his Mustang into a wild spin on the front straight. While Bullas kept his car off the wall, the Mustang sustained heavy damage to the front grill. The car was repaired and able to complete the test session.
