Bathurst winner Premat joins Tickford

Reigning Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winner Alex Premat will return this endurance season after securing a lifeline with Tickford Racing.

Premat was unlucky to be dumped by Shell V-Power Racing after the championship-winning squad swooped on Tim Slade to co-drive with Scott McLaughlin for 2020.

The first Frenchman to win the Great Race, Premat immediately signalled his intentions to find an opportunity elsewhere.

That has now been sealed via Tickford, which confirmed Michael Caruso and James Moffat will also return to their co-driver ranks.

Jack Perkins had already been announced alongside Will Davison in the 23Red Racing entry, with pairings for the other three yet to be confirmed.

“I can’t wait to start the season with Tickford as a co-driver,” said Las Vegas-based Premat.

“They have been one of the teams to beat the last 10 years in Supercars, so I am delighted to join such a competitive team for the Enduro Cup.

“I’m excited to bring my knowledge acquired in the past five years in the endurance races, and am also happy to be back as a reigning Bathurst champion.”

Tickford CEO and team principal Tim Edwards lauded the arrival of Premat, who also has the 2016 PIRTEK Enduro Cup trophy on his resume.

“It’s not often the defending Bathurst winner becomes a free agent so we were really happy to snap Alex up when the opportunity came about,” said Edwards.

“He routinely shows up come Enduro season and is straight on the pace, which is what you need nowadays, so we’re very excited to see what he’ll bring to the team.

“We think he’ll complement our other drivers quite well, so we are very happy with our overall line-up.”

Of Caruso and Moffat, Edwards hailed their 2019 efforts as “fantastic”.

“When you have a co-driver who can genuinely race the main game guys it gives you a huge advantage, and when we put both of them in tough situations last year they excelled,” Edwards said.

“It’s a no brainer to have them back in 2020, and to add Alex to the mix gives us a really strong line-up, we’re really excited about it.”

The confirmation means there is no room for Alex Davison after partnering his younger brother Will the past two seasons.

Fellow 2019 Tickford co-driver Thomas Randle will meanwhile team up with Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat this year.

Premat, Caruso and Moffat will all take part in the Tailem Bend pre-season test today.