Bobby Jane, the 21-year-old son of Australian motor racing legend Bob Jane, will make his car racing debut in this year’s Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series.
Jane Jr will drive a Ford Falcon BA for Victorian-based Image Racing in the six-round national series, which starts at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway on March 9-11.
Jane Jnr won last year’s Formula Rotax Heavy class in the Victorian Superkart Championship and works as Motorsport Manager at his father Bob’s Calder Park Raceway.
The addition of Jane to the Image Racing line-up means that team principal – and reigning Kumho Series Champion – Terry Wyhoon, will not drive in the 2012 series, instead electing to focus on the progression of his expanding team.
The team, which is in the final stages of completing a brand new workshop in Korumburra in southeast Victoria, will prepare four cars in this year’s Kumho Series for Jane, Mark Shepherd, Michael Hector and Michael Bartsch.
While the youngster has a famous surname, the Falcon that Jane will race is also packed with V8 Supercars history.
It is the very same ex-Stone Brothers Racing Ford driven by Russell Ingall in his now-infamous ‘road rage’ stoush with Mark Skaife at Eastern Creek in 2003.
Ingall also drove the car to second place in the 2004 V8 Supercars Championship, completing a 1-2 result that year for Stone Brothers Racing with now-NASCAR star Marcos Ambrose crowned as champion.
The Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series is part of the Shannons Nationals motorsport tour, and utilises Fords and Holdens formerly raced in the V8 Supercars Championship.