Youlden reunited with Reynolds for Bathurst
Bathurst 1000-winning combo David Reynolds and Luke Youlden will be reunited for this year's Great Race.
Youlden has inked a Bathurst 1000 deal with the new-look Kelly Grove Racing outfit that will see him suit up in familiar Penrite colours alongside a familiar primary driver in Reynolds.
This time, however, it will be in a KGR Ford Mustang rather than an Erebus Motorsport Holden.
The pair spent three seasons sharing a Penrite-backed Erebus Commodore for the long-distance races between 2017 and 2019, winning the Bathurst 1000 in their first year together.
They went painfully close to winning a second Bathurst crown the following year, only to be denied when Reynolds was hit with debilitating cramps in his final stint.
A difficult 2019 enduro campaign, which included a crash in practice at Bathurst, saw Youlden replaced by Will Brown for the 2020 season.
However Reynolds' subsequent move to KGR, just one year into a decade-long Erebus deal, has paved the way for a reunion.
Youlden will also run a full-time Carrera Cup programme, to ensure he's race fit for what will be the sole two-driver Supercars race.
“We’ve got the dream team back together and it feels awesome," said Reynolds.
"Myself and Luke shared some great memories together when we won the Bathurst 1000 in 2017, which is still one of the greatest moments of my life. I’ve enjoyed driving with him and he’s a great guy so it was only right we recruit him for Bathurst again this year.
“Luke will be doing quite a lot of racing this year which is great for him and it means we know he’ll be race ready when it comes time to get in the car for Bathurst.
"With how good the co-driver field is these days it’s hard to turn up having not raced all year and give it a crack so with his regular Porsche meetings I think he’ll turn up confident and raring to go."
Both Youlden and Reynolds will get their first taste of the Penrite KGR Mustang at today's ride day at Phillip Island.
“I’m really excited to be joining Dave and the team at Penrite Racing for Bathurst this year," said Youlden.
"It’s an interesting and exciting time to be joining the team, there’s obviously been a lot of change at Kelly Grove Racing which seems to be extremely positive and the team is really ambitious.
“Winning Bathurst with Dave in 2017 was one of the highlights of my career, it’s something that I’ll never forget, so obviously I’m really looking forward to giving it another crack this year after watching from the sidelines in 2020.
“Myself and Dave obviously have history, we know how each other work and I’m used to driving the car the way that Dave has it set up, so I think we’ll be able to gel together really well and hopefully have a strong result.
"We definitely have experience on our side, together we’ll probably be one of the most experienced combinations that’ll race at Bathurst, which is cool.
“It’ll be my first time driving the Ford Mustang Supercar, but I’m fairly confident I’ll adapt to it pretty easily, particularly after having a few ride days and things like that between now and the 1000 in October.”
Youlden is also expected to split today's ride day running in the #7 KGR entry with Rick Kelly, as Andre Heimgartner continues to recover from fractures in his hand sustained during the New Zealand Grand Prix weekend.
Kelly is the favourite to partner Heimgartner for the Bathurst 1000, however he's yet to commit to his family team beyond a testing and ride day contract.
Tickford Racing, Blanchard Racing Team and Walkinshaw Andretti United will also be in action at Phillip Island today.
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