Benalla’s Best to launch Bathurst assault this weekend

Twenty-seven driver pairings are set to thrill crowds at ‘the Mountain’ once again this weekend for the 10th round of the Supercars Championship, reaching breakneck speeds and driving centimetres apart across 161 laps of the iconic 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit on Sunday, all vying for the Peter Brock trophy.

Among those battling it out behind the wheel will be Benalla talent Zak Best, who will once again play the co-driver role for full-time Blanchard Racing Team driver Aaron Cameron, having combined for the first Enduro Cup round at Tailem Bend last month.

The weekend will mark Best’s return to Bathurst for the first time since 2023 although he has shown plenty of pedigree at the circuit in the past, winning the Super2 race in 2022 and driving a commanding race in 2023, too, only to be undone by a penalty.

Racing in the Super2 feeder series, Best claimed pole position in a series record time, completing the lap of Mount Panorama in 2:05.2, two tenths of a second quicker than the next best time posted, and starting at the front of the grid.

The main race was a fairly straightforward affair, too, with Best leading the entire way and crossing the line 4.1 seconds clear of the chasers; however, he received a five-second penalty from the stewards for a false start, demoting him to second place despite leading at the checkered flag.

The 23-year-old has three starts to his name in the main game Supercars race at Bathurst, too, with a best result of sixth place alongside James Courtney coming in 2023, with the pair making up 10 positions during the six hours of racing.

Best and Cameron will be looking for a big turnaround from their last outing at The Bend, where they finished 24th, although with Cameron having been ruled out of finals contention in the main driver’s championship, the duo have been freed up to have a swing at the top step come Sunday.

Speaking to Supercars.com, Cameron said that he and Best would be going full throttle, and would look to take advantage of other drivers holding championship aspirations maybe having to think strategically.

“One hundred per cent, every race is like that for us,” he said.

“We don’t worry about the championship or Enduro Cup or anything, we’re not in that sort of position. I think a lot of guys probably should be a little bit more careful.

“I certainly semi did that at Tailem Bend when Broc and Jamie weren’t having a great day, it was cool to be running around them, and I certainly had a crack to pass them because it’s not every day you get to have a go at passing a Triple Eight car.

“We’ll do the same at the Mountain, we’ll be giving it 100 per cent. You never know when your last race is going to be, so we’re just going to try and do as well as we can.”

Best will be in action at the Bathurst 1000 from this Thursday, October 9, with first practice at 1.20pm before a co-driver only session at 4:50pm.

There will be a further two practice sessions on Friday at 10:05am and 1:05pm, before qualifying gets under way at 4.10pm, ahead of two further practice sessions on Saturday morning and the top 10 shootout at 5:05pm, with the race to start on Sunday morning at 11:45am.

Foxtel and Kayo will have a dedicated Bathurst channel showing live coverage from each and every session across the weekend, including the support series, while Channel Seven will broadcast live on free-to-air from 10am on Friday and Saturday, and from 7am on Sunday.