MEDIA RELEASE- For Immediate Release, May 19 2006

DREW RUSSELL SET TO COMMENCE NEW CHAPTER IN MOTORSPORT CAREER

Newcastle teenager Drew Russell will continue his progression through the ranks of Australian motorsport next weekend, May 26-28, when he makes his debut in the STS Turbo Australian Performance Car Championship at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway.

He will make the move from Production Cars to contest the remainder of the 2006 GTP Championship, in the series’ Ferntree Gully Holden Privateers Cup. He will get behind the wheel of a Mazda RX7 previously raced by series owner and reigning Champion Peter Floyd.

“It’s really a great step for Drew’s career,” said Global Racing Industries owner Wayne Russell, who has been involved in the class as a driver and team owner in previous years.

“We’ve been looking at a number of options to further Drew’s career, and when the opportunity to enter the STS Turbo Australian Performance Car Championship came about, it was too good of a chance to turn down.”

The arrangements have come about late in the piece, with the deal finalised less than a fortnight before the round. Yesterday, Thursday May 18, the car arrived at the Sydney-based Ric Shaw Performance, where the renowned rotary tuners will prepare the car ahead of Wakefield Park, Round 2 of the Championship.

“Ric [Shaw] knows these cars inside out,” said Russell. “His record behind the wheel in the class speaks for itself, and he has countless experience working with Mazda’s, so getting him to prepare the car was an easy decision to make.

“It’s pretty tight between now and Wakefield Park, so that means we won’t be able to test the car beforehand, but Ric and his team will no doubt give Drew a great car to start with.”

Drew, who turns 18 next week, enters series on the back of strong form in the past 18 months in the Australian Production Car Championship. In 2005, he won Class A and finished second in the outright Championship, and won two races in the series’ 2006 season opener at Wakefield Park in March.

“I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Mazda,” he said. “It will be quite a different type of car to drive compared to the Honda S2000, so it is a good opportunity to expand my driving experience.

“Wakefield Park will start out as a learning experience as we come to grips with things, but, as the weekend progresses, I’m confident that we’ll become a contender in the Privateers Cup.”

The Ferntree Gully Holden Privateers Cup is a new initiative within the class in 2006, featuring older model cars running on a harder tyre to the outright class. Cars in the class will receive national television exposure, as part of the series’ TV deal which will see four of the seven rounds broadcast on the Nine Network.

Global Racing Industries thanks the support of Go-Karts Go, Ric Shaw Performance, Oran Park Raceway, The Kloster Group, Koala Glass and Bells Radiators.

-end-

High resolution photos for media use and other resouces can be found at www.tokencameo.com/resources/global/