Randle set for full-time 2022 Tickford drive

Thomas Randle is set to make a full-time step up to the Repco Supercars Championship in 2022 with Tickford Racing.

Randle, the 2020 Dunlop Super2 Series champion, will form part of an expanded four-car Tickford line-up next season.

It comes after Tickford was confirmed to have made a successful bid for a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC).

A fourth Tickford entry takes the grid to 25 cars for next season, marking the largest full-time grid since 2018.

WATCH: EDWARDS DISCUSSES RANDLE'S FUTURE

Randle was signed to a multi-year deal with Tickford late last year, and will co-drive for the team at this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000.

The 25-year-old, who previously completed two Super2 campaigns in the Tickford stable in 2018 and 2019, is currently in Darwin as a wildcard for the Ford team.

Randle impressed at last month’s OTR SuperSprint, scoring a top 10 in the second race of the weekend.

With a fourth REC now in Tickford’s possession, team boss Tim Edwards said it was the right time to continue Randle’s journey.

“We announced earlier this year that we had signed Thomas to a multi-year deal,” Edwards said on the broadcast.

“We’ve been building towards this, from the point Thomas joined the team in Super2.

“It was all about the journey; we were looking for the next Cam Waters, and before Cam Waters, we were looking for our next Chaz Mostert.

WATCH: RANDLE 'THE PERFECT CHOICE'

“In the history of the team, we don’t compete in Super2 for any other reason than to try and find our next star.

“We’ve been on a bit of a journey with Thomas for the last five or six years since he came onboard.

“We’ll continue on that in 2022.”

Randle will be on track in Darwin this weekend, with Practice 1 commencing at 11:55am AEST.

The Merlin Darwin Triple Crown will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.