Tim Blanchard has been confirmed as one of Dick Johnson Racing’s drivers for the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship.
As first reported by Speedcafe.com, Blanchard will fill one of the two seats at the embattled Queensland squad, driving the team’s new Ford Falcon FG, featuring technical components sourced from leading blue oval team Ford Performance Racing.
Blanchard is a former Australian Formula Ford champion, and after finishing second in the British Formula Ford Championship in 2008, returned to Australia to compete in the Dunlop Series.
Last year, he stepped up to drive with Jack Daniel’s Racing in the final four V8 Supercars events and is now set to compete in his first full season in the V8 Championship.
Blanchard will drive the Falcon FG at Sydney Motorsport Park tomorrow, supporting the Queensland Flood Appeal.
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It is expected that DJR will only field one Falcon at Sydney Motorsport Park, while the second car, likely to be steered by long-time team driver Steve Johnson, is being prepared for the upcoming season.
Blanchard says that he is looking forward to being an integral part of the DJR family team.
“I’m thrilled to be joining such an iconic team as Dick Johnson Racing,” Blanchard said.
“They have already made me feel so welcome and I can’t wait to hit the track for the first time with the team tomorrow in the Queensland Floods Appeal Falcon.”
Principal and team owner Johnson is confident that Blanchard, and the new FPR package, will be a competitive force.
“With the engineering package provided to us by FPR, our two Ford Falcons will be competitive as any out there,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Tim give it a good shakedown tomorrow. He is an exciting young driver and with him on board, we can start to look to the future of DJR and not get a sore neck by looking back.”
In a statement provided by DJR, the team says that it plans to make further driver and team announcements within the next week.
