Walkinshaw Andretti United, in collaboration with Andretti Autosport and United Autosports, has today announced a wildcard entry into the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, on October 10-13.
The entry will be piloted by full-time NTT IndyCar Series drivers Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe. A naming rights partner of the entry is yet to be announced, as the Team looks to align with a high profile brand for the biggest day in Australian motorsport. Importantly, both William Sandbrook and Virgin Australia have thrown their support behind the program.
William Sandbrook, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Concrete will personally support the entry of the car, which will be used to promote U.S. Concrete’s international products, WheresMyConcrete and Polaris Materials’ Orca High Performance Concrete Aggregates.
Virgin Australia will not only ensure the drivers and international crew make it to Bathurst and back, but they will also use the Wildcard to help promote their Australia to Los Angeles flights.
In a complete collaboration between all facets of Walkinshaw Andretti United, engineering and mechanical staff for the entry will be sourced from Walkinshaw Andretti United staff locally, as well as Andretti Autosport and United Autosports employees, who will also make the trek to Australia for the Great Race.
The Holden ZB Commodore entry will run under No. 27, which, historically has been an Andretti Autosport number with a successful history. Rossi currently uses the No. 27 in the IndyCar Series, Hinchcliffe also ran it during his time with the team, while it is also seen on Andretti Autosport’s Indy Lights and Formula E entries.
It will form the third car out of the Walkinshaw Andretti United stable, alongside both Mobil 1™MEGA Racing entries of Scott Pye and Warren Luff, as well as James Courtney and Jack Perkins.
Rossi, 27, hails from Nevada City, California, and currently drives the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS backed Andretti Autosport Indy car. It was recently announced that he will continue to call Andretti Autosport home, after extending his tenure on a multi-year extension with the Team alongside long-time partners NAPA AUTO PARTS and AutoNation.
He began his motorsport career in the United States before moving to Europe as a teenager to pursue a career in Formula 1. Successful GP2, GP3 and Formula BMW Campaigns led him to five Formula 1 starts for Marussia between 2014 and 2015.
After returning back to America in 2016, Rossi sensationally won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 for Andretti Autosport on debut, and was later named the series’ 2016 Rookie of the Year.
Since then, he has added a further six wins to his IndyCar résumé, and currently sits second in the 2019 IndyCar Championship.
Hinchcliffe, 32, who was born in Ontario, Canada, currently drives the No. 5 IndyCar entry for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Like Rossi, he worked his way up through the open-wheel ranks through categories like Formula BMW and the Star Mazda Series, represented Canada in the A1 Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007, before graduating from Indy Lights into the IndyCar series in 2011.
He spent three seasons with Andretti Autosport between 2012 – 2014, which included his first IndyCar win at St. Petersburg. To date, his IndyCar career has yielded six wins. The 2019 Bathurst 1000 won’t be Hinchcliffe’s first experience behind the wheel of a Supercar however, having raced for Gary Rogers Motorsport at the 2012 Gold Coast 600.
For Rossi, it will be the first time he gets behind of the wheel of a Supercar, however, he has a brief history in sportscars, having raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013, the 24 Hours of Daytona in2014, while more recently running the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in 2019.
Before they tackle Bathurst, the drivers will have three-day test at Winton Raceway onOctober 1-3, a chance for them to become accustom to the 650hp beast.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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