BJR officially confirms Vale appointment

Vale will move from the UK to join the Albury-based squad in the role of team manager as of the Gold Coast 600 next week, as first revealed by Motorsport.com last Sunday.

He will replace outgoing team manager Chris Clark, who is moving to Melbourne to be closer to family.

According to Vale, a Sydneysider who has spent the last 25 years in the UK, a long-held interest in the Aussie Touring Car series fuelled his decision to move down under.

“Back in late March I spoke with Chris Clark, he let me know of his future plans and asked if I would be interested in returning to Australia with the view of replacing him at Brad Jones Racing in 2018,” said Vale.

“As a kid growing up in Australia, the Supercars series had a big influence on me and is part of the reason why I decided to go to UK and become involved in motorsport.

“While in the UK I kept up to date with the Supercars series and the more Chris and I talked over the next several months the more the position at BJR appealed to me.

“After a very positive conversation between Brad [Jones] and I, Brad organized for me to attend the Townsville 400 event as a guest of BJR. This gave me the opportunity meet and interact with the team, helping me find out more about BJR, Supercars, and Dunlop Super2 Series first hand.

“The whole experience was positive so Brad and I agreed to move forward, Brad inviting me to Albury to visit the BJR workshop and meet the rest of the team before I headed back to the UK.

“I must thank Brad, Kim [Jones] and Chris for giving me the opportunity to work with the team at BJR and I am really looking forward to being involved with the Supercars series.”

Clark, a BJR veteran whose latest stint with the team started more than a decade ago, backed his new appointment to keep the three-car team heading in the right direction.

“I’ve known Peter since 1980; I left McLaren as he was coming into the business,” said Clark.

“Peter is a great operator, and we’ve kept in contact throughout the years. He always had an interest in Supercars so the timing couldn’t be more right for him to get involved.

“I think Peter will take the team to the next level, it will be a good change and he’ll bring a lot to the team.

“I’ve enjoyed my time with Brad and Kim, it’s been great to see the business grow over the years. Brad and Kim have been amazing to work with, and the team is a really great group of people.

“I’m lucky to have been a part of bringing this group of guys and girls together and I look forward to seeing what they can continue to achieve in the future.”