Ellery back in the driver's seat.

By Matthew Agius

Steven Ellery will drive a V8 Supercar for the first time since being dropped from the series last year as he drives the second car for his new outfit, Team Sirromet Wines.

Ellery will step into the #39 Sirromet Wines VZ Commodore at the upcoming Hidden Valley Raceway round and the subsequent Queensland Raceway event. He will replace Alan Gurr and Fabian Coulthard who each have rotated the driving honours in the car since the Clipsal 500 earlier this year.

Regarded as one of the best endurance and Bathurst drivers in the national circuit, Ellery, who has not driven a V8 Supercar since being axed from Team Betta Electrical at the end of 2005 will line up along team boss and regular driver Paul Morris at the upcoming two championship events.

"I've had six months off racing these cars fulltime, so driving at Darwin and Queensland (Raceway) gives me some extra track time to get ready for Sandown and Bathurst, which is my main focus this year" Ellery said.

"The team is involving me in testing, which is good, but you're on the track by yourself and I need to be out there getting the feel of being in a race with 30-odd cars again."

"I want to learn as much about the car as I can and get used to working with the team under race conditions," said Ellery. "That said, I'm a competitor and I'm not going to just roll around."

"To be honest, I've been racing these cars a long time. I know the tracks, and I think I can get up to speed quickly enough. The hard thing will be finding that extra bit for a quick qualifying lap, but by the time Queensland comes around I should be pretty sharp."

Even though Ellery will get the opportunity to drive at the next two rounds, it will limit the progress of Alan Gurr and Fabian Coulthard as V8 Supercar drivers. That said, team owner Morris is adamant that their development is progressing well.

"We're pleased with the progress Alan (Gurr) and Fabian (Coulthard) are making, and we simply want to give all our endurance drivers as much racing as possible before Sandown and Bathurst," said Morris.

"Originally we thought about running Steve (Ellery) in Queensland, and we've decided to go ahead with that, and add Darwin as well. It means Steve and the two young guys will each get two starts over the first six rounds of the championship."

Ellery will drive with Paul Morris in the 2006 endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst.