Webb secures Supercars comeback

Jonathon Webb has secured a Supercars driving comeback, with the 2016 Bathurst winner signing on as Tim Slade’s co-driver at Nulon Racing.

Webb, a four-time race winner and former team owner, will share the #23 Nulon Camaro with Slade at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 and Repco Bathurst 1000.

It brings Webb and Nulon Racing full circle, given Webb sold Team Sydney to Peter Xiberras.

The 39-year-old emerged as a surprise candidate to partner Slade after testing with the team in June.

Nulon Racing had also handed laps to the likes of Joey Mawson, Kurt Kostecki and Matt Chahda.

Mawson, currently racing in S5000, appeared on course to secure the seat, but an impasse regarding a Superlicence saw Nulon Racing sign up Webb.

Webb’s last Supercars start came alongside Fabian Coulthard at the 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 with Team Sydney, which became PremiAir Racing in 2022.

The Webb news leaves just one vacancy on the 2023 enduro grid, alongside Todd Hazelwood at Blanchard Racing Team.

Webb's last start, Bathurst 2021

Penrite Racing has already announced Garth Tander and Kevin Estre, but have yet to allocate them to cars.

"I was thankful for the opportunity to drive a PremiAir Supercar with the Nulon Racing team at their Queensland Raceway test day in June,” Webb said.

"When the opportunity presented to join Tim for the enduros, I jumped at the chance. It’s an honour, and I look forward to contributing my best efforts to assist Tim and the team with their championship.

"I have full confidence in Tim and the Team’s ability for success at both Sandown and Bathurst. I’m sincerely grateful that Peter Xiberras and Tim Slade have granted me this opportunity."

Slade added: "I'm looking forward to pairing up with Jono for this year's enduros.

"Jono obviously has a wealth of experience in Supercars and has won races both as a solo driver and co driver.

"He did his first laps in a Gen3 car at our last test day and felt pretty comfortable straight up which was good, plus he'll get the opportunity to get further acquainted with the car at our Sydney ride day and pre enduro test day.”

"I think it's great we have gone back to the traditional endurance race format with the return of the Sandown 500, it makes for a great precursor to Bathurst and I'm sure eases the nerves a little for co drivers before the Great Race."

Webb won the 2016 Great Race

Xiberras is confident Webb is the right man for the job, despite the team’s efforts to secure a drive for Mawson.

"Obviously it has been widely reported that we were looking to give Joey Mawson a drive with Tim to give some young and upcoming talent a go,” Xiberras said.

"We hung out as long as we possibly could to try and make that happen. Unfortunately, the bid for Mawson to be approved for a Superlicence for the events has not progressed.

"So we had to make a decision and we decided to do all that we could to give Tim the best possible chance to recover some points after a difficult start to the season by partnering him with an experienced co-driver.

"Jono showed a lot of speed in his time at the wheel during our QR test day and he has proven, race-winning experience as both a co-driver and a solo driver.

"We are confident he will be the perfect co-driver for Tim at Sandown and Bathurst this year and we are looking forward to seeing what they can achieve together at these prestigious events.”

The Penrite Oil Sandown 500 will open the enduro season on September 15-17, before the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.

2023 enduro combinations (as of July 20, 2023)