WHAT do you do when you lack experience at Mount Panorama? You pick the brain of a man who knows all about endurance racing at Bathurst.
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As a wildcard entry for this year's Bathurst 1000, IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe know they will face more challenges than their rivals in the 161-lap epic.
So in the build up the duo not only worked hard on familiarising themselves with the Holden Commodore during test days, but they absorbed the advice of Walkinshaw Andretti United team-mate Warren Luff.
Luff is not only a two-time winner of the Enduro Cup, but he boasts 19 starts in the Bathurst 1000, drove in two editions of the Bathurst 24 Hour and has raced in the Bathurst 12 Hour 11 times.
He has stood on the podium in all three of those events, including placing second in the two most recent editions of the Bathurst 1000.
"Warren Luff has been fantastic in terms of giving a driver's perspective to us and walking us through things from his perspective," Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, said.
"So it's been a very good learning experience and I think we're most of the way prepared for the Bathurst 1000.
"I think the coolest part is the sound of the car inside the cockpit is pretty awesome, so it's one of those types of cars that brings a smile to your face,"
While Hinchcliffe contested a Supercars event on the Gold Coast in 2012, he too knows conquering the Mount will be a challenge.
"We are under no illusions about the challenges which are in front of us, but everyone at Walkinshaw Andretti United has been incredible in getting us up to speed," he said.
"The driver changes are always fun, that's such a cool part of this sport and these races in particular. Trying to get everything nailed in 20-23 seconds is so challenging, there's so much going on.
"Remembering what to disconnect, when to pop this, when to push that - there's a lot of steps you've got to take to pull it off seamlessly. I'm not going to say we were seamless quite yet, but we've definitely made some big strides."
