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Jonathon Webb has been named as Tim Slade’s co-driver at Premiair Racing for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
The 2016 Bathurst 1000 winner is a shock signing to join Slade in the #23 Nulon Camaro, with PremiAir having tested at least three other candidates already.
However, it is understood that Joey Mawson is still unable to obtain a licence in order to make his Supercars Championship debut, while Matt Chahda and Kurt Kostecki have not landed the gig either.
Webb was the owner of the Tekno Autosports team which morphed into PremiAir Racing upon the sale to hire magnate and drag racer Peter Xiberras.
His most recent drive in Supercars came in Tekno’s last race, the 2021 Bathurst 1000, although he did make a return to the GT3 arena when he steered an Audi in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
The 39-year-old has driven a PremiAir Camaro, however, having also partaken in a mid-season Supercars test day at Queensland Raceway.
“I was thankful for the opportunity to drive a PremiAir Supercar with the Nulon Racing team at their Queensland Raceway test day in June,” said Webb.
“When the opportunity presented to join Tim for the enduros, I jumped at the chance.
“It’s an honour, and I look forward to contributing my best efforts to assist Tim and the Team with their Championship.
“I have full confidence in Tim and the team’s ability for success at both Sandown and Bathurst.
“I’m sincerely grateful that Peter Xiberras and Tim Slade have granted me this opportunity.”
Slade remarked, “I’m looking forward to pairing up with Jono for this year’s enduros. Jono obviously has a wealth of experience in Supercars and has won races both as a solo driver and co-driver.
“He did his first laps in a Gen3 car at our last test day and felt pretty comfortable straight up which was good, plus he’ll get the opportunity to get further acquainted with the car at our Sydney ride day and pre enduro test day.
“I think it’s great we have gone back to the traditional endurance race format with the return of the Sandown 500, it makes for a great precursor to Bathurst and I’m sure eases the nerves a little for co drivers before the Great Race.”
According to Xiberras, the team could no longer wait on Mawson’s Superlicence situation to be resolved.
“Obviously it has been widely reported that we were looking to give Joey Mawson a drive with Tim to give some young and upcoming talent a go, and we hung out as long as we possibly could to try and make that happen,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, the bid for Mawson to be approved for a Superlicence for the events has not progressed, and so we had to make a decision and we decided to do all that we could to give Tim the best possible chance to recover some points after a difficult start to the season by partnering him with an experienced co-driver.
“Jono showed a lot of speed in his time at the wheel during our QR test day and he has proven, race-winning experience as both a co-driver and a solo driver.
“We are confident he will be the perfect co-driver for Tim at Sandown and Bathurst this year and we are looking forward to seeing what they can achieve together at these prestigious events.”
Webb is a winner of not only the Bathurst 1000 but also the Bathurst 12 Hour, both in 2016.
A Super2 Series title winner in 2009, he scaled back to co-driving in 2014 when Tekno streamlined its Supercars Championship operation from two Holden Commodores to one.
Tekno continued to enjoy strong results with future champion Shane van Gisbergen behind the wheel, but its latter seasons were hamstrung by disorganisation and lack of investment.
After selling the team to Xiberras, Webb’s Tekno Performance road car business went into voluntary liquidation in 2022, although a ‘Tekno Bespoke’ apparently continues to trade to this day, out of the same premises.
The PremiAir announcement means just three driver pairings are not locked in, so far as full-time Supercars Championship entries are concerned.
Grove Racing has not confirmed which of Garth Tander or Kevin Estre will pair up with David Reynolds and Matt Payne while the Blanchard Racing Team, which is in play for a wildcard, has not yet announced a co-driver for Todd Hazelwood in Car #3.
Meanwhile, Simona De Silvestro is set to join Kai Allen in a Dick Johnson Racing wildcard for both enduros.
The Sandown 500 takes place on September 15-17 and the Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.
