BRAD Schumacher’s rookie season in the New South Wales Production Sports series was one to remember as he was crowned 2017’s overall champion, but now he is working towards a title defence.
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The Bathurst driver was behind the wheel of his Kelso Electrical Lotus Exige at Mount Panorama on Thursday and Friday to gather data for his 2018 assault.
He was participating in the Challenge Bathurst Supersprint, taking a step up after driving in the regularity sessions of the event in its inaugural year.
“Twelve months ago I was here in the regularity and it was my first time on track, but I’ve done plenty of practice since then, I’ve raced nine meets this year in Production Sports,” Schumacher said.
“So I’m in the Supersprint this year. Obviously we raced in the Production Sports series this year, so there’s a little bit more confidence and it’s much better to be able to get out on the track with guys who are talented racers. You get clean runs and are not getting held up too much.”
Schumacher’s Lotus was part of the Group D section, meaning he lapped in a field which included entries from the likes of Objective Racing, MARC Cars Australia, Trofeo and Miedecke Stone Motorsport.
While it meant he was not near the top of the time sheets, he still enjoyed the experience.
“I’ve got to admit being in the same group as all the Australian GT cars is pretty cool,” he said.
“The approach speeds towards corners with those cars is much different, obviously they’ve got a much higher top speed in the straights, however the Lotus holds its own through the corners.
“So we are pretty quick, but once we leave the top of the mountain down through Conrod, we are pretty easy pickings.”
For Schumacher the main goal was to gather data and get more speed out of his Lotus ahead of the 2018 NSW Production Sports State Championship.
On Thursday he drove in the wet at Mount Panorama for the first time, while on Friday he was able to push harder on a dry track.
“Primarily I am here just to do some testing and log some data for next year at Bathurst,” he said.
“The Production Sports car series races on the Bathurst Six Hour weekend. We do two 30-minute sprint races and a one-hour endurance race.
“Because we haven’t run the car to its current spec at Bathurst, it’s all about getting data so we know where we stand for next year.
“Basically you are against yourself. The guys in the pits are monitoring everything that is happening with the car and we are looking to push as much out of the car as we can.”
The Bathurst Six Hour will run from March 30-April 1 next year.
