ADAM Bressington fondly recalls the time he led the way around Mount Panorama in the opening lap of a Touring Car Masters race.
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So much did he enjoy that lap, it is something he wants to experience again this year.
On Friday morning in Touring Car Masters qualifying at the Bathurst track, Bressington booked his yellow Chevrolet Camaro a front row spot on the grid.
He clocked the second fastest lap of two minutes, 17.7019 seconds, while Steve Johnson took pole position thanks to a qualifying record 2:16.616 in his 1971 Ford Falcon XY.
Whether or not the Whiteline Racing driver can get the better of Johnson and lead the way around the track on Saturday morning remains to be seen.
But he will always have the memory of doing it in a Monaro in 2013.
“It was something that will stick with me forever,” he said.
“I could see the whole sea of people in front of me and I thought ‘Holy crap I’m leading a Bathurst race in front of all these people’.
“I had John Bowe behind me and I led it the entire lap. To be honest, when he passed me on Pit Straight going into the second lap, I really didn’t care after that.
“I chased him, and tried hard to keep up with him, but that feeling was pretty amazing.”
Bressington arrived at Bathurst sitting second in the Touring Car Masters championship on 627 points. That puts him between two well-know motor sport names in series leader John Bowe (640) and Johnson (622).
There are three races at Mount Panorama for him to try and make up that gap and Bressington feels he has the car to do it.
As he tackles the famous 6.213 kilometre circuit he will also be spurred on by words his father once offered him.
“I’ve gone so close so many times to winning national categories in other categories. To win you’ve got to finish and we’ve always put a big emphasis on finishing,” he said.
“We’ve been doing that this year and getting good results. The car has been strong all year so far, we haven’t had a round that’s really hurt our championship.
“My old man, back in the day in the 1950s, he was actually master of course at Bathurst for two years. I grew up with a lot of these guys as family friends.
“I’d hear all the stories and dad used to always say in the day, ‘You’re as good as anyone unless they’ve got an advantage in the car, you’ve got a good chance of beating anyone.’
“No disrespect to john Bowe or junior Johnson or any of those guys, I feel that I’m up to scratch to match them and we’ve shown that so far this year.
“I’ve been in the category on and off over the years and I’ve had different cars and not always been up there.
“But this year we’ve got a good car, we’ve shown the car is good enough to win, it’s just up to me to show we can do it as a team and obviously as a driver.”
When it comes to Bressington’s favourite part of the circuit – one he rates as the best he’s competed at - it comes as no surprise to hear it is one where he will be on the accelerator.
“I’ve always been taught, you hear all the folklore from everyone about who is the quickest across the top and the bravest, so I enjoy that part of the track,” he said.
“At the end of the day I’ve driven all over the world and in different categories and Bathurst is still my favourite track.
“I’ve got a lot of fond memories of Bathurst, I’ve driven there in different categories over the years and always had good results. I seem to be able to perform well there as well.”
The first six-lap race of the Touring Car Masters’ Bathurst round will start at 9.10am on Saturday.