BRAD Shiels had been itching to get back behind the wheel of the Tilton Racing TCR Series entry ever since COVID-19 shutdowns put an end to racing action across the country.
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But the Bathurst driver was final able to take the Hyundai i30N for a spin around Wakefield Park on Saturday with a wet but vital testing session on the Goulburn track.
Rainy weather doesn't make for the world's most valuable car data, but Shiels said the sheer volume of laps was a joy to experience after spending so long waiting for a drive.
"It was just good to be out after not being at the track for so long," he said.
"It was wet throughout the day, which wasn't ideal, and it wasn't even predicted rain. That was a bit annoying but we still got a lot of laps in and learned a bit about the car."
Shiels entered 2020 with reason to feel confident in his ability.
He was the World Time Attack Challenge open class champion in October and then set a Radical Cup Australia Mount Panorama lap record in February.
Shiels was lucky enough to get a limited amount of time behind the wheel of the i30N in testing before coronavirus shutdowns delayed the start of the season and forced a revision of the calendar.
"I drove the TCR car on the last day before Eastern Creek was shut down because of coronavirus, probably around the end of March to the start of April," Shiels said.
"Funnily enough, that first day I got into the car it happened to be wet weather as well. I haven't really managed to get any proper dry laps in, so I'm looking forward to the first chance I get for that.
"I'm lucky that I had a couple of drives before it all went bad.".
Shiels said testing was productive and that the Hyundai is a fun car to drive.
"The characteristics of the car are pretty much the same in the wet or dry. It probably exaggerated it a little in the wet. It's a front wheel drive, so I can be a bit difficult to set up," he said.
"We're still finding out similar problems that we would have seen on a dry track.
"We've got more testing to come on Monday and another one at Eastern Creek in July, where I suspect a few other TCR cars will be at."
The opening round of the series takes place over August 15 and 16 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The big one Shiels will be looking forward to is the round at the Bathurst International being run over November 12-15.
It will mark the first time the category has raced at Mount Panorama.