Owen and Brant to spearhead Autobarn assault.

Steve Owen has finally been confirmed as Autobarn Racing's driver for the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The 31-year old will drive in the #55 VZ Commodore for 2006, a car which was used by Paul Morris Motorsport for the 2003 and '04 championships. Marty Brant who formerly ran Independent Race Cars in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series - and netted a series win in 2002 with Paul Dumbrell - will run the team.

Rod Nash Racing acquired a level one franchise at the end of 2005 from the now defunct Team Dynamik operation, and the team will be based out of Brant's IRC headquarters in Melbourne.

Owen joins the team after leaving Jason Bright's Fujitsu Racing operation after one season. Despite him driving the team's lead car, he was forced to sit out of all restricted grid events due to the #25 Fujitsu Falcon bearing 'wildcard' status. He is set to run in all thirteen events for 2006 with Autobarn Racing.

"I had a really frustrating time last year, where I sat out plenty of races because of team franchise issues, but this is a nice way to bounce back," Owen admitted, "The other frustrating thing was that the team was grouped with another, so that meant we couldn't go and test. It will actually feel like a little bit of a luxury to go to our first test at Phillip Island this year!

"I've had a chance to do six laps in the car on a handover day at Queensland Raceway, and I've raced against cars prepared by Marty and IRC in the past in the Development Series, so I know he does a good job.

"Having some knowledge of Phillip Island in a V8 Supercar will be a real help when we test. I'll have a clue of what part of the ballpark we are in and what areas we will need to work on before we go to Adelaide."

Owen first joined the V8 Supercar circuit as a long-distance driver with Garry Rogers Motorsport in 1999. He shot to enduro stardom with a ninth place at Bathurst on debut, which would allow him to gain regular appearances in the Bathurst 1000, and eventually peak when he was signed to lead the second Kmart Racing Commodore at the 2004 event. He also competed with Mike Imrie Motorsport in the Fujitsu Series and John Faulkner's Holden Young Lions operation in 2004.

Team owner Nash was keen to forge a competitive team from the get-go, and the choice to join forces with Brant and to sign Owen as driver is a logical one.

"We wanted to make sure we built a strong technical package and we've been able to do that by sourcing our hardware from the Morris team," he revealed, "Marty Brant has been around V8 Supercar racing at the highest level in the past, during some of the most successful years with Gibson Motorsport. He certainly knows what he is doing and I'm happy with our new tie-up.

"Steve has been an underrated driver in the past and people have forgotten about him after he had a relatively quiet season in 2005, so I think he'll surprise a few people."

Autobarn joins the team after a relatively unsuccessful year with Rod Nash's former partnership with Perkins Motorsport. The 2005 campaign saw the Australian automotive goods retailer sponsor Alex Davison's entry - another wildcard - that generally ran at the rear of the field. However, the company's national marketing manager Bill Leane remains optimistic that the steps put in place by Nash and Brant will allow for Autobarn to be substantially more prolific in 2006.

"Our programme this year, and our decision making, reflects our business mantra - that is that we're a rapidly growing, successful organisation and we won't settle for second best," he said, "Last year, we were in the hands of a third party, but we deemed it necessary to have more control over our destiny and the way things are set-up in 2006 reflects that.

"We're really positive about where the year is going. We have a driver in Steve Owen who has proven in the past that he's quick, can drive hard when required and can drive smart when required.

"The most critical thing is that we have our own car, our own testing programme and the model we're working around is based on other team's successful models. That's the only to go - there's no point trying to re-invent the wheel."

Owen and Autobarn are set to complete a test session at the Phillip Island Motorcycle Grand Prix circuit before the season opening Clipsal 500 Adelaide.