Bathurst winner Alex Premat secures Supercars return with Tickford
Alex Premat will return to the Bathurst 1000 this year thanks to a revised deal with Tickford Racing
The Frenchman was set to join Tickford for the Supercars enduros last year, after splitting with DJR Team Penske straight after winning the Great Race in 2019.
However, the global health crisis put paid to that, Premat's Las Vegas base making it difficult for him to get to Australia once the international borders were slammed shut.
He was ultimately replaced by ousted full-timer Will Davison in a reshuffled Tickford Bathurst line-up.
Premat has secured a return for this year, though, inking a revised deal to join the three-car Bathurst 1000 effort with James Moffat and Thomas Randle.
The exact pairings are yet to be determined, leaving the seats alongside Cam Waters, James Courtney and Jack Le Brocq all up for grabs.
Moffat and Randle will both turn laps at this Friday's pre-season test, while ongoing travel restrictions mean Premat will wait until the pre-Bathurst test to drive a Tickford Mustang.
"Fortunately international travel restrictions are starting to open up which gives us the chance to bring Alex over [for Bathurst]," said Tickford CEO Tim Edwards.
"We'll go through the necessary steps to secure a travel exemption, and Alex is prepared to do his 14 days of quarantine, testing, and everything else involved to come over.
"He'll get some seat time at our regular enduro test, then we'll head to Bathurst and go for it.
"We've been fortunate to have great co-driver line-ups the past few years, and this is another very strong group. Moff and Tom have both done a great job for us in the past, and if you look at last year they were two of the fastest co-drivers out there. And Alex has won the bloody race before, so we're very happy with what they bring to the team.
"Each of them is reliable and quick, which is exactly what we need for this race and gives us the confidence that we have the right guys in our cars for all 161 laps."
For Moffat this will mark a fourth straight enduro campaign with Tickford, having partnered Chaz Mostert in 2018 and 2019 before joining Le Brocq last year.
"It's great to be back with the boys and girls and Tickford," Moffat said.
"We're going on four years together now so obviously knowing the team, knowing the cars, all that familiarity is nice to have, and knowing that we'll be in the fight at the pointy end is even better.
"October's a long way away, but I'm really looking forward to getting into it with everyone and having a red hot crack at the big one."
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