But this week Shiels got the news that his motor sport dream is set to become a reality after being offered a seat in the AMAC Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R which will contest next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

He will race alongside team owner Andrew Macpherson and another yet to be named driver it what marks the biggest challenge of the 21-year-old’s motor sport career thus far.

“It’s pretty cool to think I started up there [Mount Panorama] doing hillclimbs and super sprints and now I will be in probably the top Porsche in the 12 Hour,” Shiels said.

“What I am doing now, driving GT cars, that is what I want to do. It is a worldwide category and it’s a good thing to get into because you can go anywhere in the world and drive the same car. You can make a living out of it, especially the enduro stuff because they need three drivers, there are a lot more positions and a lot more slots for drivers.”

While Shiels’ path to the 12 Hour has involved countless hours behind the wheel and plenty of work with his coach Mike Navybox, the first tangible step he took towards earning a seat came earlier this year.

He was offered a drive for AMAC Motorsport at Wakefield and, from that point on, continued to impress team boss Macpherson.

The deal was sealed earlier this month when he impressed at Phillip Island’s annual Island Magic meeting in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S Car.

“It sort of started at the start of the year when I drove a Lotus for the same team in the Wakefield 300. They were pretty happy with what I did then – we won the outright class,” he said.

“Then I did a few test days with them and last weekend I drove at Phillip Island for them in a Porsche – not the same one I am driving in the Bathurst 12 Hour, but another one.

“I qualified on pole, won my first race, then came second in the one hour enduro and again they were really happy with what I did and that pretty much confirmed my drive for the 12 Hour.

“I drove with the team owner in the enduro. We started in 23rd as well because he had a bad qualifying run; to come back from 23 to second was pretty good. The car in front was a better classed car too. It was a GT spec car and we were a Cup Car, so we didn’t really have a chance against that car anyway.”

That those results came in Shiels’ first race at Phillip Island and in his first time racing a Porsche highlighted his ability.

The Bathurst talent admitted he knew it was a final audition, but said that did not weigh too heavily on him.

“I knew that it could have confirmed my spot. They wanted to have a last minute look to see if I could do the job,” he said.

“There was a bit of pressure, but no more than usual. I am always out there to prove myself.

“The 12 Hour is going to be a big thing for me and it is a really good way to gauge yourself against the best in the world because there are going to be factory drivers for Bentley and Aston Martin and Ferrari.

“You know exactly where you are in a field like that, and if you can go alright people sort of notice you.

“I raced there two years ago around the full circuit in a sports sedan, a Camaro, in a 12 Hour support category. That was pretty quick and this car will go quicker than that. My next step is this, so I’ve come along alright.”

Shiels follows in the footsteps of his father Steven, who claimed class honours with fellow Bathurst drivers Matt Windsor and Paul Newman in the 2009 and 2010 Bathurst 12 Hour races.

But while their Subaru contested the small car classes, Brad Shiels will race in the leading category next year. It means he has the simple goal of just wanting incident-free stints and if everything he has achieved thus far is an indication, he should be able to do just that.