V8: Premat gets Triple Eight/Red Bull seat

Alexandre Premat will join the Triple Eight-run Red Bull Racing Australia team alongside Shane van Gisbergen for V8 Supercars' 2016 endurance events.

The 33-year-old Frenchman contested the full 2012 and '13 championships with Garry Rogers Motorsport, and returned to the squad for the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 enduros in subsequent years after losing his full-time seat. He will now move to Triple Eight to partner new signing van Gisbergen in a Holden Commodore VF.

"I'm proud to be part of such a great team, especially with the successful history that Triple Eight Race Engineering has in V8 Supercars and at Bathurst," said Premat.

"I will do everything in my power to bring them great results; personally my goal is to be the first French Bathurst winner!

"I've had the chance to race against Shane for the past four years and I am thrilled to now be driving with him. He has the talent to be a V8 Supercars champion. Our collaboration will be strong and reinforce the team. Shane's always been a strong competitor and a fighter, I respect him."

Premat was part of the championship winning Team France line-up in the inaugural A1GP season in 2005/06 and won the Le Mans Series LMP1 title with Audi in '08. His varied career also includes a stint in the DTM, a Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix win, race victories in GP2 and various GT programmes.

Van Gisbergen joins multiple champions Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes at Triple Eight this season after leaving the Tekno team. The 2014 V8s runner-up won the first leg of the Gold Coast event last year and thinks pairing up with Premat will give him a chance for more success in the series' premier rounds.

"It was a pretty cool surprise when I heard about Alex being available for the endurance races this year," van Gisbergen said.

"He has an awesome racing history but more importantly good speed and consistency as a V8 Supercar co-driver the last couple of years."

Originally on Autosport.com