RACING on a street circuit is a foreign experience to Bathurst driver Michael Anderson, but when offered the chance to do just that this weekend he was quick to take it up.
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Anderson will race his Kenwood Homes Ford Falcon as part of the support program to the Supercars’ Gold Coast 600 round.
It is the same car he ran in this year’s Australian V8 Touring Cars series and his rivals at the Gold Coast come from that same competition.
“This is a non-championship round, they got a cancellation of one of their events up there because it didn’t comply. They offered it to us and we jumped at the opportunity,” Anderson explained.
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“I think we’ve got 16 entered, so we’ve still got a decent amount for the short turnaround. A few of the fellas have gone back to Perth and a few had already pulled their cars apart to get them ready for next year.
“They said to us that if we put a grid together this year on very short notice then we might get the round next year.”
Though he will be behind the wheel of a familiar car and racing against familiar rivals, the weekend will bring new things to Anderson as well.
He is not familiar with street circuit racing and has never before tackled the Gold Coast roads. On top of that, and perhaps more excitingly for the Bathurst driver, is that his category will have a different name.
“I’ve only ever done one [street circuit] before, but not in a Supercar and not to the extremity of the Gold Coast – the kerb, the speed and everything like that.
“On the Gold Coast there has never really been a Dunlop Series or Kuhmo Series come about up there and we are now know as Super3, so the Dunlops are Super2 and we’re Super3, so that’s pretty cool.
“Now that we are affiliated a lot more with Supercars by being Super3, it just opens a lot more doors for us for years to come.”
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Running on a Supercars support program is something Anderson has done before – he most recently did that at The Bend Motorsport Park. But given the Gold Coast hosts the final leg of this year’s Enduro Cup – a battle which Bathurst 1000 victors Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards lead – the atmosphere should be special.
“For me, I would rather race the Gold Coast than say run at Sandown. Just the hype around the Gold Coast and the track itself, there’s a bit going on,” Anderson said.
“The biggest thing for us is that we are the first support category to the main game in Supercars to get a go there, so it will be pretty different.
“They’ve given us two 14 lap races so it should be a good spectacle. Especially being at the Gold Coast 600, it’s one of the top races to go and race at, I can’t wait.”
Qualifying is on Saturday and racing on Sunday.
