WHILE four of Nick Foster's impressive 98 career podiums have come at Mount Panorama, come this year's Bathurst 12 Hour he will - literally - be looking to take the next step.
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Each time the talented 27-year-old has appeared on dais at Bathurst it has been as a third placegetter - he's done it three times in the Carrera Cup and in his 12 Hour debut.
But now, as he forms part of the Triple Eight Race Engineering attack on the 12 Hour, Foster is aiming higher.
He will join Supercars talent Anton de Pasquale plus brothers Yasser and Sam Shahin in the #777 entry which will vie for a Pro-Am class win.
"I'm really looking forward to it and it's going to be a lot of fun. Yes, we have two bronze drivers in Yasser and Sam, but we're all very confident that they can do the job; they're both very capable drivers," Foster said.
"It's Anton's first time in GT3, but he knows Bathurst really well and has always shown great pace in Supercars around this amazing circuit.
"We all know the job that Triple Eight Race Engineering does week-in, week-out, so it will be an exciting event and we will be aiming to put on a great show and take home some trophies."
This year will mark Foster's third start in the 12 Hour and the third different brand he has steered in the Mount Panorama enduro.
On debut in 2016 he was behind the wheel of a Team NZ Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car which placed third in Class B.
Last year the Brisbane native returned as part of the driver line up for the Hub Auto Corsa Ferrari entry.
While the Taiwanese based outfit had hoped to threaten for a podium given its strong results in the Blancpain GT Asia Championship, it ended up a disappointing 18th outright.
This year Foster will share the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Though that will be a new challenge for Foster, he is certainly well versed in the world of GT3 racing.
He has already helped Eurasia Motorsport secure two podiums from two starts in the 2020 Asian Le Mans Series - impressing at Shanghai and The Bend in a Ligier JS P217.
"We were a bit unlucky and we had the pace to win, but we missed Lady Luck," he said of his second placing at The Bend earlier this month.
"We'll keep pushing and I'm sure we'll get our break and be in championship contention heading to the season finale. Together with this upcoming Bathurst weekend, it will be busy, and we'll be pushing for victories."
The Bathurst 12 Hour runs from January 31 to February 2.