hero-img

Blanchard: I deserve a drive

28 Jan 2015
"I think people will be quite surprised at how competitive we are."
3 mins by James Pavey
Advertisement

Tim Blanchard believes he and the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport team will surprise people this year, and has hit back at those stereotyping him.

The Formula Ford Championship winner - who impressed team boss and good friend Lucas Dumbrell with his performances across the Pirtek Enduro Cup last year - was earlier this weekannounced as the team's second driver alongside Nick Percat, filling the final drivers' seat in the V8 Supercars Championship.

It is a return to the category for the 27-year old, who competed full-time in 2013 with Dick Johnson Racing - and this time the former V8 Supercars Dunlop Series runner-up and Mike Kable Young Gun award winner feels his team has the stability for him to show his potential.

"It was a pretty tough year at DJR - we rocked up to the test day not knowing if there was going to be a team, [they] finished building the car on the way to Clipsal, so it was a very tough year," Blanchard told v8supercars.com.au.

"We didn't have much stability or anything going into the year ... in my mind I deserve to have a chance to have a proper year with proper preparation."

While the 27-year old brings with him some sponsorship from family company CoolDrive, he believes the backing is relatively small in the bigger scheme - and the successes he has had in other categories proved he belongs on the grid.

"He [Dumbrell] wanted two guys he could build the team around, build a future with, and that's why Nick and I were chosen ... I think people will be quite surprised at how competitive we are," Blanchard said.

While it was tough for the young driver to sit out 2014, it could be said the turn of fate was a blessing in disguise for Blanchard, whose road back into the Championship was helped by racing as a co-driver with LDM.

"You never want to sit on the sidelines, but to be able to come in and do a really good job for Lucas last year gave me the opportunity to present my case a lot stronger for the drive for this year," Blanchard explained.

Advertisement

On paper, the Blanchard-Percat combination seems a strong line-up for the burgeoning team, which last season achieved its best Championship result since debuting in 2010.

Blanchard believes the two will be good for one another, having known and raced against each other for some time.

"We've both worked together at Sonic in Formula Ford and the V8 Supercars Development Series; and were always wheel to wheel," he said.

"I think we work very well together and I'm looking forward to working with him this year. I think it will be a very stable environment for us both to work in."

While he will get behind the wheel of a Holden this time around - after campaigning a Ford during his previous full-time stint - Blanchard does go back to something familiar. His Holden Commodore will be branded with #3 this season, a throwback to earlier days behind the wheel.

"I've raced with number three in the Australian Formula Ford Championship when I won that, and then used the same number when I went to the UK - I finished second in the British Championship and third in the Festival with that number.

"So I've had quite a of success with it and [when] the opportunity to use a number I've had success with in the past presented itself, I was pretty keen to jump on that."

Blanchard will line up in the LDM Commodore for the first time at the sydney.com SuperTest, in just 10 days time.

Related News

Advertisement