Erebus Motorsport has announced that sportscar driver David Brabham will partner Tim Slade in the #47 Heavy Haulage Australia E63 AMG at this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600.
Brabham replaces Andrew Thompson who co-drove with Slade at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000. It is understood that Thompson was only contracted to the team for the first two legs of the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
Brabham paired with Slade at last year’s Gold Coast 600 in the team’s former guise as Stone Brothers Racing, finishing in the top five on both days. The former Le Mans 24-hour winner also took the IRWIN Racing car to fifth place alongside Alex Davison in 2010.
Brabham arrives in Australia fresh from finishing second to Ryan Briscoe in the LMP2 category at the Petit Le Mans over the weekend in Atlanta.
“It’s fantastic to be back racing with Tim in the Heavy Haulage Australia machine and to be doing it in a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG for the first time on the streets of the Gold Coast,” said Brabham.
“This event is one of my favourites worldwide, there is always a great atmosphere wherever you are in Surfers Paradise and around the Gold Coast, so it truly is a pleasure to be coming back here.
“I’ve not driven one of these new cars, but have been keeping a close eye on the development of the Erebus Motorsport squad throughout the year particularly.
“The results at Sandown speak volumes for what they have achieved in a very short period of time.
“After the effort at Bathurst by the Erebus Motorsport crew, the boys and Tim deserve a good result to drive them on for the remainder of the season and hopefully I can be here to do that for them.”
After Slade’s heavy crash in practice at the Bathurst 1000, Erebus Motorsport CEO Ryan Maddison says a podium would be a deserved reward after the team’s hard work to provide a competitive car for the Gold Coast event.
“It’s great that Erebus Motorsport can add another successful and internationally recognised name to our driver roster in David Brabham,” said Maddison.
“Brabham comes to the #47 Heavy Haulage Australia Racing with a great working knowledge of our team members from the past two years. To add his Formula 1 and Le Mans experience to the list of drivers who have driven Erebus Motorsport cars in our very short history is another success factor for us.
“The crew have worked tirelessly since Bathurst to ensure that they will deliver a car to contend for wins and it would give us no greater pleasure than to have our first podium at the Gold Coast.
“We’ve shown with our commitment last weekend in Australia at Bathurst and in China with Mika Hakkinen and AMG Customer Sports that Erebus Motorsport is proactive in becoming an internationally recognised motorsport brand.
“The Brabham name and the Gold Coast race are synonymous with motorsport globally, so we’re very excited.”
