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Team 18 boss Charlie Schwerkolt said there was no hesitation when the opportunity to re-sign Scott Pye was tabled.
Today it was confirmed the Melbourne-based Adelaide-born driver will continue with the team into 2023.
That will see driver continuity heading into the Gen3 era of the Repco Supercars Championship, the new regulations slated for introduction midway through 2022.
For Schwerkolt, re-signing Pye was a no-brainer.
“We’ve seen in the first two seasons with us what Scott has been capable of, with multiple podium finishes last year and some strong performances so far this year,” said Schwerkolt.
“So there wasn’t any hesitation when it came to putting pen-to-paper on an extension of his deal with the team.
“While he has had his share of bad luck this season, we aim to continue our progress as a team and build on our momentum as we look to finish this year off strong and look ahead to 2022.
“From the moment Scott walked into the team he has seamlessly integrated into the culture we have built here, his passion and commitment to succeed rubs off on everyone in our workforce.
“He has built a strong rapport with his engineer Phil Keed which we intend to progress further as we aim for continuity in our engineering and support staff into next season.
“Commercially he has been a strong fit, our partners love working with him and he has contributed significantly to growing the brand of Team 18.
“He has established himself as one of the leading drivers on the grid through his speed and racecraft, and we know he’ll get the very best of the equipment we provide for him and Mark.”
Team 18 underwent a significant expansion at the close of 2019, adding a car to its workshop and a slew of new crew.
The outfit has been headed by team manager Steve Henderson, engineers Phil Keed and Manuel Sanchez, and head of engineering Richard Hollway.
Schwerkolt added, “Together with Frosty, a former champion and Bathurst [1000] winner with 18 seasons of experience in the category, we feel we are building our team to a position to contend for podiums and race wins as we look forwards to a new era for the Supercars Championship.”
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