THE story of Jake Dennis' Bathurst 12 Hour debut took almost as many turns as there is in the Mount Panorama circuit itself, but all those moments will serve to drive him on when he makes his return.
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He hopes 2020 will see him earn an elusive victor's trophy.
Dennis formed part of the R Motorsport line-up which tackled the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour, an event which marked the British driver's debut at the Mount.
Behind the wheel of the #62A Aston Martin, Dennis had a dramatic campaign.
He forced his way into the top 10 shootout and while he did so with the knowledge a penalty for speeding in Pit Lane during qualifying would cost him two grid spots, regulations still allowed him to claim the Allan Simonsen Pole Trophy if he was good enough.
Dennis showed huge commitment to clock the best lap of the shootout, a 2:02.4946 flyer, saying "I didn't leave anything left; my aim was to either put it in P1 or I crash. I went balls out and did the lap and everything came together."
But a technical breach was later discovered by officials, stripping him of the trophy and relegating his team to 12 on the grid for the start of the Bathurst 12 Hour.
It hurt, but on Sunday Dennis and his team-mates Matthieu Vaxiviere and Marvin Kirchhoefer worked their way through the field. With 30 minutes remaining, Dennis sat in position one.
He held on to that lead until just under 10 minutes remained. Matt Campbell dove down the inside of Dennis at Forrest's Elbow to claim the lead and he had to settle for second.
"My memories from last year are mixed," Dennis said.
"The podium was good, but I was super disappointed to loose out on the win with 10 mins to go. But if someone said to us at the start of the weekend that we would finish P2 with three rookies, I would have taken it any day of the week.
"I managed to achieve the fastest lap last year and just to experience a lap at Bathurst by yourself is one of kind. You can't get that anywhere else."
Dennis will return to Mount Panorama in January for another tilt at 12 Hour glory, this time sharing the seat of the R Motorsport Aston Martin with Rick Kelly and Scott Dixon.
It is a strong combination and one which has the 24-year-old hungry to again test himself against a world-class field come January 31.
"Having two experienced guys with me in the car is amazing and overwhelming. I can't wait to start working with them and learn things off them. It's a strong line up and I'm very excited to get things started there," he said.
