The final pairings for the Repco Supercars Championship endurance races have been confirmed following Penrite Racing announcing its line-up.
Having earlier announced a coup by signing multiple Repco Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander and international sports car star Kevin Estre as its co-drivers, the squad was waiting to confirm its line-ups prior to the Penrite Sandown 500.
Now this has been revealed as Tander will join David Reynolds in the lead entry and Estre will be alongside rookie Matt Payne for his Repco Bathurst 1000 debut.
Estre has raced at Bathurst multiple times as part of the 12 Hour event representing Porsche, which has carried through to the Hypercar Class where he races for Penske Motorsport in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Speaking on the pairings, Grove Racing Team Principal David Cauchi is excited by the squad’s potential.
“I don’t think you could ask for a better endurance line-up,” stated Cauchi.
“The experience that both Garth and Kévin possess is world class and we can’t wait to kick off our endurance campaign with them alongside Matt and Dave.
“Garth has been working with us from the start of the year; his feedback has been fantastic as we learned more about the Gen3 cars.
“Kévin brings with him phenomenal racing experience and impeccable driving skill which has brought him a great deal of success. So, we are excited to have him driving our Mustang with Matt.”
An impressive rookie this season, Payne believes Estre’s endurance experience will be an advantage at Sandown and Bathurst.
“It’s really exciting to paired with Kévin Estre,” Payne said.
“He is a bit of a global superstar with a mega amount of experience under his belt.
“He’s someone I am looking forward to working with and learning from as we head into the enduro rounds.
“I have done some endurance racing overseas myself last year and always saw his name at the top of the timesheets so it will be great to combine our experience and see what we can do in the back half of the year.”
Estre is enthusiastic about joining Payne for his maiden Repco Supercars Championship events.
“Really pleased to share the car with Matt,” Estre revealed.
“He’s a talented young driver and has showed his speed many times in his career already.
“He’s a rookie in Supercars but I’m sure that he’s going to help me a lot to be on pace as soon as possible! I can’t wait to be racing with the whole team.”