Heimgartner to Nissan deal confirmed

As expected, the Kiwi will replace Todd Kelly in the four-car line-up alongside Rick Kelly, Michael Caruso, and Simona de Silvestro.

It's a comeback of sorts for the 22-year-old Kiwi, who has two full Supercars seasons to his name already; in 2015 he drove for Prodrive in the Super Black Racing entry, before switching to LD Motorsport in 2016.

Having stepped back to Carrera Cup this season, he found himself with a last-minute Bathurst 1000 drive at Brad Jones Racing after Ash Walsh was ruled out with injury on the Thursday night.

Heimgartner says he's looking forward to returning to the series full-time.

“I’m delighted to reveal that I’ll be joining Nissan Motorsport next year,”said Heimgartner.

“The team and the facility are world class. Rick and Michael both have heaps of experience in Supercars, plus Simona has raced Indycar and Formula E, so I hope to learn a lot.

“Nissan is a major global brand racing across the world, so it’s exciting to be aligned with them into the future.

“It’s a shame there’s still a few months until we’re racing again. I want to jump in the car and get going.”

Todd Kelly added that securing a promising young driver to take his place was a big motivator in his decision to retire from racing.

“We’re really excited to have Andre as part of the team,” said Kelly.

“Andre is a really promising talent and has experience in the main game. Our line-up for next season is now pretty diverse but also extremely capable.

"What Andre was able to achieve in the Pirtek Enduro Cup made the entire paddock stand up and take notice.

“I am comfortable in retiring from racing knowing that we have such a promising young talent driving with us. I look forward to being able to watch him develop throughout the year.”