On the heels of being awarded the 2018 Mike Kable Young Gun Award, 22-year old Thomas Randle has re-signed with Tickford Racing to return to its Dunlop Super2 program in 2019.
Randle, the 2014 Australian Formula Ford and 2017 Toyota Racing Series champion, joined Tickford Racing in 2018 as a rookie in Super2, impressing across the season en route to 11th overall in the championship. Despite a couple of bruising lows, the sweet highs of 2018 have the racing driver and mechanical engineering student excited to continue his development with the team in 2019.
“I am thoroughly looking forward to continuing my partnership with Tickford Racing in 2019,” Randle said. “I’ve really enjoyed my first year with the team and I’m excited to see what next year brings. 2018 has been a year full of challenges in terms of understanding the car, the tyre and learning five new circuits, and the team have been nothing but supportive all the way in helping me tackle these obstacles.”
While the season was bookended with frustrating weekends at Adelaide and Newcastle, Randle turned heads with front row starts at Perth and Townsville, snaring pole position for Race 8 at Perth and claiming a round podium in Western Australia. The cheery Randle also scored race podiums at Perth and Sandown, as well as a fourth in Townsville, leading many to tab him as a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
While proud of those results, Randle looks forward to honing his craft this offseason in preparation for his sophomore Super2 campaign.
“To come away in my rookie year with a pole position, a couple top three finishes, a round podium and the Mike Kable Young Gun award is a credit to the whole team,” he continued. “I still have a lot more to learn however I am confident Tickford and I will have a strong package and can give it a great crack next year to fight for the title. I also have to thank Rusty French from Skye Sands for his continued support, it has been a great journey with him so far and I will be doing all I can to repay his faith in me.”
Tickford Racing team principal and CEO, Tim Edwards, also looks forward to seeing Randle’s trajectory develop in 2019, following a similar path to Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters, who have gone from youngsters in the team’s Super2 program to race winners on its Supercars team.
“Tom impressed us from day one in Adelaide,” Edwards said, “and while he had plenty of learning moments this year he always improved the next time he went on track. He’s got a great attitude and isn’t afraid to mix it up on track. He’s shown he’s a talented driver, and we’ve shown we can mould a talented driver into a winning driver. We knew 2018 was going to be a learning year with the aim towards mounting a serious challenge in 2019, and we look forward to giving Tom a car to contend for race wins and even a championship next year.”
The 2019 Dunlop Super2 Series begins on the streets of Adelaide, February 28 – March 3. The seven-event season sees Super2 play an undercard to main game Supercars events, spanning five states and seven tracks, including the series’ return to Queensland Raceway for the first time since 2015.