All change seems the flavour of the day at TKR...
It seems the new driver for TKR has been secured, a new car for the new year, a technical assistance partnership has come to fruition, and a new workshop location has been found.
In terms of driver, I am reliably informed that Mr Paul Radisich has agreed to terms to drive for TKR, for a number of seasons.
The driver sorted, a new car was required for the new season, one equipped with an Aurora engine, as the Supercar technical regulations have mandated a change to this powerplant (Finally!) for all VY Commodores.
Mr John's crew will apparently have Mr Morris' 2004 #29 "Daisy" chassis at their disposal for 2005. Brand new after Pukekohe, this car has been very quick, and will run similar specifications in chassis and PMM-supplied Aurora engines to the 2005 #29 PMM car.
By inference, this (more than!) suggests that there will be technical assistance & support from PMM to TKR for the preparation and operation of this car.
Rumours in the motorsport press that TKR was looking to move to Queensland appear to be well founded, with workshop space inside the PMM complex at Norwell apparently being made available to the TKR team.
As part of the technical support, I have been led to understand that the Sandown/Bathurst enduro pairing for 2005 is likely to be #29 with Mr Morris and Mr Radisich aboard (reliving a shared experience in an Audi SuperTourer way back in 2000 for BJR). This would partner two very experienced operators, and arguably give Mr Morris his best chance at the Bathurst success with his own team.
It seems Mr Gurr is not out of the PMM picture as was much touted 'round here. The plan seems to be for this driver to continue to run in V8Lites for Smiths Trucks in their ex-PMM VY, again with PMM technical assistance, to add to the experience bank, with the payoff of leading the TKR car in the Sandown/Bathurst enduros. Additional support for a talented kid in a similar car to that he will use in the enduros shows PMM still has confidence in the guy.
It also appears that Mr Porter's involvement in the team is downscaled. It was suggested that Holden played some part in bringing the new driver to the team, so presumably this is why the Hyundai sponsorship is not likely to reappear at TKR.
All in all, this seems like a very strong result for Mr John and the TKR supporters. Congrats to all who worked hard to finalise the deal...
