FIA World Touring Car Cup front-runner Néstor Girolami will take part in the next round of the TCR Australia series, driving a Wall Racing Honda Civic at Sandown next weekend.
Girolami will take over at the wheel of the car which was raced by Tim Brook at the previous event at Winton Raceway.
The Argentine has won three times so far in this year’s WTCR, where he is in contention for the overall drivers’ title.
The 30-year-old will be aiming to support the team’s lead driver, Tony D’Alberto, in getting his title challenge back on track, as he has dropped to 145 points behind series leader Will Brown.
Girolami’s deal has been put together by Wall Racing and Honda TCR constructor JAS Motorsport, who will also send an engineer to Australia to help in Girolami’s efforts.
Girolami is the second WTCR regular to take on the TCR Australia series this year, after Jean-Karl Vernay made a one-off outing at queensland Raceway in July.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to race in TCR Australia,” said Girolami. “I’ve never driven at any Australian circuits before and I’m looking forward to this new experience at Sandown.
“Wall Racing is an excellent team and already race winners this season and I’m sure I can work well together with John and Tony to deliver some good results.
“It won’t be easy because the level is very high with many top drivers with experience of Supercars and GT racing and some promising young drivers.
“I know the Honda Civic Type R TCR very well, but the Michelin tyres are new for me, so getting used to the way this makes the car handle will be the big challenge initially.”
David Wall, owner of Wall Racing, is looking forward to working with a factory Honda driver for the next event.
“To have the factory driver out here is fantastic for us,” said Wall. “I’ve been working with Nestor for a while now to try and get something going. He has heard a lot about the Australian series and has been keen to see what it’s all about.
“He needs no introduction to these cars and has a great range of experience right across the world.
“Hopefully we can hit the ground running for Sandown and get him straight up the front and, no doubt, it’s going to have a positive effect on our regular drivers Tony and John [Martin].”