AIM Motorsport has welcomed James Masterton into its fold ahead of the 2024 Dunlop Series after striking a customer deal with the former jet ski champion.
Masterton, 40, moved up from Super3 to Super2 last year upon purchasing a race-winning ex-Tickford Racing/Blanchard Racing Team Ford Supercar.
A difficult rookie campaign ensued, leading Masterton to turn to AIM for race weekend support. The son of former Australian Touring Car Championship privateer Steve Masterton will prepare the car between rounds from his new Sydney workshop.
Co-owned by Andre Morse and Ian Turner, AIM got on the podium last year via Zane Morse in Townsville and had already flagged plans to expand its Super2 operation come 2024 after buying an additional Mustang from MW Motorsport.
Three cars is now the plan, with Masterton bringing his FPR 1215 chassis across, and another teammate set to be announced for Morse Jr.
“Really for James, he has been trying to run the car himself, he has been trying to mechanic the car himself, trying to engineer it himself,” Andre Morse told V8 Sleuth.
“He was trying to do everything on his own and you just physically can’t do it, he’s too tired when he gets in the car.
“He wants to have a stab at going well and moving up in regards to being able to fight for positions.
“We gave him a hand at the end of last year and he just said, ‘without you guys, we would have been lost’.
“We have managed to do a deal where we will run the car for him and he is going to come on and just drive the car.
“We’re going to engineer it for him, mechanic it, the whole lot. So hopefully it will help him to progress with his motorsport career.”
Adam Honeycombe has been appointed as Masterton’s race engineer.
“We want to help not just young kids coming through; James is a little bit older but he is a passionate motorsport guy and is a world champion in jet skis,” Morse continued.
“He has got skills but he has been trying to do the car all on his own and you just can’t do it.”
Mount Panorama will host the Dunlop Series opener across February 23-25.
