PremiAir Racing has confirmed the exit of Team Principal Matty Cook ahead of this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500.

Cook joined the squad just over a year ago, having previously headed up Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Super2 and GT World Challenge programmes.

His departure from PremiAir, a customer of Triple Eight, was confirmed by the team via Supercars’ official website this morning.

As previously reported, it had been advised last week that Cook had taken leave for personal reasons.

PremiAir Racing is a force in Top Fuel drag racing, with team owner Peter Xiberras a champion as a driver, while its Supercars programme was born out of the acquisition of Team Sydney/Tekno Autosports just ahead of the 2022 campaign.

It had flashes of results last year, primarily through James Golding, who himself joined effective the Townsville 500 after the axe was swung on 2016 Super2 Series winner Garry Jacobson.

PremiAir, or Nulon Racing, made a promising start to the 2023 season in Newcastle and has recorded a number of top 10s this year, although it was one of only two Chevrolet teams to not score a podium last time out at Hidden Valley.

Another lowlight was Tim Slade’s engine failure at Symmons Plains, which was a chain reaction dating back to an over-rev at Wanneroo triggered by a failure of the gear lever riser, when the team is understood to have in fact not installed the upgraded spec before that Perth event.

At present, Slade is 13th in the drivers’ championship and Golding 14th, while PremiAir sits eight in the teams’ standings, slightly ahead of last-start winners Matt Stone Racing/Truck Assist Racing.

During his time at Triple Eight, Cook had worked as a lead mechanic on Shane van Gisbergen’s car.

Coincidentally, his departure from the Arundel-based PremiAir coincides with the arrival of one of an engineer from Banyo, namely Romy Mayer, whose first event with her new team is this weekend in Townsville.

Xiberras, for the time being, has taken over Team Principal duties.