Only four weeks remain until Tim Blanchard steps into the main V8 Supercar Championship Series as co driver in the Castrol Commodore of Greg Murphy. The conformation of the drive for Tim was made in July by team owner Paul Morris.

Blanchard said he was delighted to be rewarded with the drive alongside Murphy. “I was surprised when Paul [Morris] gave me the call, but very happy too,” Blanchard said. “Driving the Castrol EDGE Commodore with Greg Murphy is a great opportunity for me, but I can’t carried away. “My job at Phillip Island will be quite clear, get up to speed, do the middle stint of the race, stay on the lead lap, and hand the car back to Murph without any scratches.”

Greg Murphy underlined his team owner’s opinion of Blanchard. “Tim is an extremely promising driver who is doing a tremendous job in the Fujitsu Series. He hasn’t driven a V8 Supercar at Phillip Island before but it won’t take him long to get up to speed and he is more than capable of handling the pressure.” Murphy said.

But the upcoming Phillip Island 500 is not the only thing that has been occupying Tim’s mind since his success at Townsville. He heads to Bathurst in second outright in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series and is currently busy working with the team at Sonic Motor Racing Services as well as taking an active role in the commercial side chasing support for the second half of the series.

“Now I can put my university studies behind me, it is 100% effort on the balance of 2010 and planning 2011.” Tim said. “We have a lot of work to do before Bathurst to ensure we can keep our campaign rolling along.”