Kristian Lindbom will return to the wheel of Evans Motorsport’s Dunlop Series Ford at Bathurst this weekend after putting together a late deal with the first-year team.
Lindbom drove for Evans during the opening four rounds of the season before a budget shortfall saw Daniel Gaunt take over the drive last time out at Winton.
Sitting out Winton, Lindbom had been hopeful of preparing a Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden for Bathurst, but was forced to abandon those plans late last week.
The Walkinshaw-built Holden, which won the 2007 V8 Supercars Championship with Garth Tander, had been in the early stages of restoration at LDM when the attempt to prepare the car for Bathurst was made.
Having been purchased by a private collector earlier this year, the car is not expected to be seen in the series again.
With Gaunt unable to raise the budget for Bathurst and Lindbom picking up last-minute support from Urban Energy, the 23-year-old is now back in the ex-Ford Performance Racing Ford.
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Despite slipping to 13th in points after Winton, Lindbom is hopeful of winning the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year award, for which the $15,000 prize is decided post-season by a panel of judges.
“We’ve all been working hard at sourcing the extra funding to get to these last two rounds and I’m overjoyed that we’ve been able to get a deal done,” said Lindbom.
“I’m really hoping to take out the Rookie of the Year award and being back in a front running car definitely gives me the best shot at getting that done.
“I’ve still got to learn the track this weekend though, so it’s hard to say how we’re going to go here.
“I’ve done a thousand laps on iRacing before coming up here, so I’ll find out in Practice 1 how much help that’s given me.”
Lindbom is expected to remain in the Evans entry for the final round of the season at Homebush in December.
Gaunt in turn will this weekend focus on his drive alongside Michael Caruso in Nissan Motorsport’s attack on the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Having driven an Eggleston Motorsport Holden for the opening four Dunlop Series rounds before stepping into the Evans car at Winton, the New Zealander had sat fourth in the standings heading to Bathurst.
It is unlikely, however, that Gaunt will be seen in the second-tier class again this year.
“I’m really focussed on doing the best job I can this weekend for Nissan Motorsport, and then I have two more V8 SuperTourer races with Tasman to finish out the year,” he said.
“Next year is just around the corner now, so we’ll be putting our energy into that (rather than finding a seat for the Homebush finale).”
Eggleston, meanwhile, is fielding just one car at Bathurst this weekend for Jack Perkins.
New Zealander Ant Pedersen, who took over from Gaunt at Winton, is busy in New Zealand with university commitments.
