Alexandre Prémat
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9:55 AM Thu 2 February, 2012
Source: BigPond Sport
FUJITSU Racing/GRM team boss Garry Rogers is well known for going against the grain but he’s surprised just about everyone in pit lane by signing Frenchman Alexandre Premat for the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship.
Premat, who has never raced a V8 Supercar before, will replace Lee Holdsworth in the #33 Fujitsu Commodore for this season.
The 29-year-old is a former winner of the famous Macau Grand Prix and has raced for Audi in the DTM (for four seasons) and Le Mans 24 Hour. He also won the 2008 Le Mans Series for Audi.
He helped France to claim the A1 Grand Prix of Nations championship in 2005/06 and finished third in the 2006 GP2 Series.
Last year he drove in sportscar racing for OAK Racing after parting ways with Audi at the end of the 2010 season.
Rogers says that the fact the Frenchman has signed is not so much of a flattering thing for his team, but more so for the V8 Supercars category itself.
“No, I’m not flattered but I think the category needs to be flattered,” Rogers told BigPond Sport today after news broke overnight of his sensational signing.
“The fact that there’s interest from drivers around the world shows that. I think the category has really got the recognition. In a way, I’m flattered. He could have got a drive somewhere else overseas but I think he’s recognised we’ve had solid results as a team and it’s well run and managed.
“I might be proven to be wrong about him, but I don’t think I’m wrong.”
Rogers admitted he’d spoken to other overseas drivers including his previous Gold Coast signings, Simon Pagenaud and Patrick Long, as well as a range of local younger drivers. But this time he decided against following GRM’s traditional push for youth.
“I wasn’t sold after chatting to a lot of the younger, inexperienced guys, that we would go in the youth direction. It’s very competitive to try and get near the front, let alone to the front.
“I figured it would take us a minimum of two years with a young guy to get their minds around these cars and go through the crashes they will no doubt have.”
Rogers said that he expects to team up Premat with experienced engineer Richard ‘Crusty’ Hollway.
Premat will arrive in Australia next week in time for Fujitsu Racing GRM’s official launch and unveiling at its workshop on Friday February 10 and the Sandown test day that follows on the Saturday.
The Frenchman’s family will join him in Melbourne the following week before he is due to make his V8 Supercars debut at the Clipsal 500 in March.
For more on Fujitsu Racing/GRM: www.grmotorsport.com.au
For more on Alexandre Premat: http://www.alexandrepremat.com
