Dunlop is set to become the new major sponsor of the Development V8 Supercars Series.
The Japanese tyre giant, which supplies the racing tyres to both the V8 Supercars Championship and the Development Series, will take over from Fujitsu General as the naming rights of the DVS.
The class will be officially known as the Dunlop Series.
Speedcafe.com understands that an announcement is imminent and confirmation could come within days.
Speedcafe.com spoke to a V8 Supercars representative who could not make comment.
The news of Dunlop taking over as the major supporter of the Development Series was broken at Sandown when the sport’s new Nissan Safety Cars were displaying ‘Dunlop Series’ logos.
Dunlop has been the control supplier to V8 Supercars since 2002 and recently announced a deal that will see the company remain as the sole supplier until 2017.
The Development Series was run in 2000, won by Dean Canto. Since then, the likes of Paul Dumbrell, Mark Winterbottom, Andrew Jones, Tony D’Alberto, Steve Owen, Jonathon Webb and Andrew Thompson have used the class to progress their V8 careers.
Leading contenders in this year’s Dunlop Series will include Scott Pye (Triple Eight), Nick Percat (Walkinshaw Racing), Tim Blanchard (MW Motorsport), Chaz Mostert (Ford Performance Racing), Scott McLaughlin (Stone Brothers Racing), David Russell and Cameron Waters (Kelly Racing), Paul Morris (PMM) and George Miedecke (Sonic Motor Racing).