Triple X Motorsport driver Gaunt signs for V8 Supercar series

Auckland based Triple X Motorsport driver Daniel Gaunt has been signed to race in multi-year V8 Supercar deal with Lucas Dumbrell Racing.

Currently second overall in the 2009/2010 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge driving the Placemakers/Hampsta Porsche 997, 24-year-old Gaunt will drive the former V8 Supercar championship winning Holden of Garth Tander. With the V8 series expected to kick-off in Dubai one week after Gaunt’s penultimate round of the Porsche Cup, he will return to complete his Triple X season that ends at Taupo mid-March.

Having contested the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series with McElrea Racing in 2009, team director Michael Morton says Gaunt has again been able to launch from Triple X Motorsport to the ultimate in driver openings.

“This is one of those opportunities many spend their lives chasing. From Triple X Motorsport where Daniel has won the New Zealand Grand Prix and placed third in last season’s Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, he has been able to add full-time V8 Supercar driver to his CV,” he said.

“It is the aim of the team to foster younger drivers so they can spring-board to other opportunities – giving greater exposure for the Triple X Motorsport partners such as Mad Butcher.”

Gaunt gets his first look at the car late in January after he has completed the two back-to-back Porsche race weekends in the South Island. Currently hands-on with preparations for the team to depart for the South Island in the early New Year, Gaunt says it has been a whirl-wind week that brought the deal together.

“It’s come about so quickly – right when we are very busy here at Triple X Motorsport getting ready for the South Island tour.”

“Triple X are about fun and getting results – it makes you feel good about racing. That opens opportunities like it has with V8 Supercars, so getting the deal together was a team effort, for a lifetime opportunity with Lucas Dumbrell Racing.”

For Dumbrell, Gaunt seemed the obvious choice given his results in the past season: “I’ve been aware of Daniel’s performance – and not just in tin-top cars. So he’s versatile and someone I can work with – especially when you’re putting a team together for the long haul,” said Dumbrell from his newly established team base in Melbourne, Australia.

Having recently acquired a franchise licence to gain entry to the V8 Supercar series, Dumbrell is overseeing the entire operation – to launch early in 2010.