RACING internationally - it's something that Bathurst driver Brad Schumacher would love the opportunity to do and his prospects of fulfilling that ambition have just gotten better.
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It was announced in late November that the Australian GT Championship which Schumacher plans to contest will now be jointly managed by the SRO Motorsports Group and the Australian Racing Group.
The opportunity for Schumacher lies in the fact that SRO is the established international leader in GT racing.
The SRO runs categories under its banner in Europe, America and Asia and also stages the annual Intercontinental GT Challenge, of which the Bathurst 12 Hour is a round.
"It's exactly what the category needed. To be supported by the SRO and bring Australia inline with other continents such as Europe and America, it's amazing for GT racing here in Australia," Schumacher enthused.
"They run the Bathurst 12 Hour, which of course is a huge event in Australia, and the SRO is also majorly powered by AWS, which is Amazon, one of the richest businesses in the world.
"To have such a strong backing, to have that funding behind the SRO and now the Australian GT series, it's just perfect, it couldn't be a better outcome."
Just as the news of the new management team comes as a huge boost for the category, it is also exciting for Schumacher on a personal level.
He purchased an Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 earlier this year with a view to stepping up to contest the Australian GT Championship.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to racing in that category being cancelled, but next year when it resumes - as will likely be the case - the Australian GT Championship will be televised and carry global significance.
"It feels for us that the sun and the moon and everything has aligned at once," he said.
"We've stepped out of Porsches in the Porsche pyramid into the Audi, which is of course homologated for this series.
"When we bought the Audi and there was uncertainty with the ownership of the Australian GT series, it left people like us wondering what we would be able to do with the car, but now it's obvious that we've got the the right car for a series which, in my opinion, is going to be right up there on the Australian motor sport stage.
"Running in the Australian GT series, not only are you running for that series but you are also running in the GT global format which means your points contribute to a manufacturer's standing at a global level.
"So if you're performing well in Australia now, you've got eyes all over the world watching you and it could lead to anything."
Racing internationally is certainly something I am looking to achieve, it is one of my bucket-list goals
- Brad Schumacher
Schumacher has had experience racing against international outfits as part of the Bathurst 12 Hour field and he was offered the chance to tackle this year's Dubai 24 Hour by MARC Cars Australia.
"Unfortunately I just didn't have the time between that [Dubai] and the lead up for the Bathurst 12 Hour to join that," Schumacher said.
"That turned out to be a blessing in disguise because that event, which was kid of funny for Dubai, they actually had monsoonal rain and the track was literally flooded that bad that pit garages were under about a foot of water.
"So that would have been a no-show if I went, but racing internationally is certainly something I am looking to achieve, it is one of my bucket-list goals."
Schumacher concedes the impact COVID-19 is having on other continents means his chance to race internationally might not come for awhile yet, but if it does the time he spends behind the wheel of his Audi will prepare him well.
"The beauty of being in these homologated GT cars is that once you have driven them here, it doesn't matter where you go in the world, you are hopping in the same car with the same balance so you don't have to recreate the wheel so to speak," he said.
"All it comes down to learning the circuit you go to."
The calendar for the 2021 Australian GT Series is yet to be revealed, but is expected to feature five sprint events and a one-off race lasting three or four hours to decide the 2021 Motorsport Australia Endurance Championship.
Schumacher is working to secure the services of an experienced driver for that enduro.
