HE has been racing at Mount Panorama for close to two decades, but when Tony D'Alberto thinks about testing his skills at the circuit it still brings with it a broad smile.
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And in 2020 there will be a lot of smiles.
Come Sunday the 34-year-old Victorian native will get the chance to steer the Wall Racing Lamborghini Hurracan as part of the strongest ever grid assembled for the Bathurst 12 Hour.
It was the first of four Mount Panorama events D'Alberto will be a part of this year.
Come the Bathurst 6 Hour in April, D'Alberto will be on the grid for the TCR Australia series' Mount Panorama debut.
He will also contest the 500 kilometre TCR race which is the headline act of the inaugural Bathurst International. That event runs from November 13-15.
Between those two events, which will see 2019 TCR series runner-up D'Alberto racing a Honda Civic Type R, he will be a co-driver in the Bathurst 1000 in October.
"I'm pretty fortunate to drive some pretty cool cars around here. I think I'm going to visit the mountain four times this year, a couple of TCR races in my Honda and also the Bathurst 1000 in the Shell Mustang," he said.
"As a young boy coming here once was a thrill, now I get to come here four times and do all these competitive races."
Each of those events will no doubt bring with it the thrill of testing his skills against the renowned 6.213 kilometre circuit.
But D'Alberto is particularly excited about the TCR 500.
It is anticipated it will draw drivers from across the globe, with a number of D'Alberto's friends already chasing a seat.
"Last year I raced in the inaugural year of TCR and it was more locally based racers, but it's cool to come to a world class track like this and I think it's really going to suit the cars," he said.
"When we have the Bathurst International and have our TCR 500 race, that's going attract a lot of teams in the TCR world.
"It's just like the 12 Hour attracts world class GT drivers, TCR drivers want to come across here and do this event.
"When it was announced, I had a lot of friends from overseas text me and say how do they get involved. The track is just so well renowned across the world."
