GRM confirms Pagenaud and Farfus for Surfers

Fujitsu Racing/GRM has secured the services of Frenchman Simon Pagenaud and Brazilian Augusto Farfus for this year’s Armor All Gold Coast 600.

The pair will team, up with regular Garry Rogers drivers Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso in the unique international-flavoured Surfers Paradise event on October 21-23.

The driver pairings for the race have not been confirmed yet.

Pagenaud is no stranger to the Gold Coast circuit, having driven for Team Australia’s Champ Car team. In recent times, he has competed in sportscars.

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Farfus is a former World Touring car Championship race winner and is racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup with BMW this year.

Rogers is pleased with his young driver line-up, although due to the unpredictable nature of the event, he is less certain on if they will help the team get on the podium.

“I think we have two talented young blokes who can do the job,” he said.

“Whether they are crash proof is something we will not find out until race weekend.

“I am sure they will fit into our team very well and will be great ambassadors for V8 Supercars back in their own countries.”

The announcement of the Frenchman and the Brazilian also adds two more countries to the list that will be represented at this year’s event.

“The Armor All Gold Coast 600 is about showcasing Queensland and Australia to the rest of the world and having varied and talented drivers like Augusto and Simon helps us achieve our goal,” said Queensland Sports Minister Phil Reeves.

“The Bligh Government is a great supporter of V8 Supercars and the Armor All Gold Coast 600 is the crown jewel on the V8 Supercar calendar.”

“Queensland is not only becoming known as the Champions State, but also the Event State, and this motor race is a great example of that.”

Pagenaud and Farfus join this year’s Indy 500 pole sitter Alex Tagliani, European stars Andy Priaulx, Marc Lieb and Dirk Müller, US gun Joey Hand, colourful US veteran Boris Said and Australian IndyCar stars Will Power and Ryan Briscoe as the confirmed drivers in the Armor All Gold Coast 600 field, with the remaining 18 being announced in coming weeks.

In other GRM news, team manager Chris Harris will step down from his position in the coming months, making way for Formula One Red Bull Racing engineer and ex-GRM employee Pierluigi Orsi to fill the role.

 

Here Garry Rogers and Lee Holdsworth talk about the Armor All Gold Coast 600 line-up