Van der Drift inks Supercars enduro deal

The Kiwi slots in to the spot effectively left vacant by Davies himself, who took over full-time duties in the #4 car last time out at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The signing follows an extended period of van der Drift trying to break into Supercars, having revealed to Motorsport.com last year that he was open to a full-time gig in the Aussie series.

“I am over the moon to have signed with Erebus,” he said.

“it has been a dream for many years to try and secure a drive and this is a great way for me to get my feet in the water.

“I am really looking forward to working with the guys in the team and the first race can’t come quick enough.

“I have been racing outside of Australasia nearly all my career and have always said I would love to come back and carry on my career in Australia in the Supercars series.

“I would probably say I’ve been trying to break in for about three years now, so it’s great I will be able to experience it. I jumped into the [New Zealand] V8 SuperTourers a few years ago which was great fun, and I managed to test with Brad Jones Racing in 2014. Both cars were very different than what I have been used to but I love how much you have under your right foot.

“I’m sure I’ll be able to fit right in and feel comfortable with the surroundings and get better every time I do another lap.”

The drive will be funded by van der Drift’s sponsors Gotzinger Small Goods and McGregor Clothing.

Van der Drift’s European career includes a stint in open-wheelers that started in Formula BMW and Formula Renault, and went all the way through to Superleague Formula, GP2 Asia, and Formula Renault 3.5. He is best known, however, for his spectacular Superleague Formula crash at Brands Hatch in 2010.

In 2012 he switched focus to GT racing, currently racing in both Germany’s ADAC GT Masters and the Chinese GT Championship.