Australian international race driver Nick McBride is back in Australia and preparing to test a V8 Supercar on Wednesday.
McBride, 21, has returned from a two and a half year campaign in the United Kingdom, competing in British Formula Ford and Formula 3.
The Victorian finished 10th in the prestigious F3 title this year, but with no desire to further his open wheel career, has returned to Australia and is on the hunt for a V8 Supercars drive.
McBride will begin that quest with a test at Winton Motor Raceway this Wednesday, driving a Minda Motorsport-prepared Commodore VE. The car was last seen racing at the Bathurst 1000 as the Shannons Supercar Showdown entry.
The car, owned by Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, is likely to compete in the next round of the Dunlop Series Winton in two weeks. Cameron Waters is expected to be the driver.
This Wednesday’s test will be McBride’s second V8 test, and ironically, it will be in the same V8 chassis that he drove during a short, 10 lap test with LDM last year.
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Having honed his skills in the UK, McBride is now looking to Australia’s V8 Supercars as his future as a race car driver.
“That’s the plan. I’ve come back to do V8 Supercars,” McBride told Speedcafe.com.
“I started my racing later in life, compared to some. I didn’t do karts as a junior, so I needed to catch up and test myself. To do that, the best way was to go to Europe and get plenty of miles.
“You do so many more miles over there – lots of testing, lots of racing. I feel I’ve come back a better driver and I’m now looking forward to getting into the Development Series car.”
McBride says that all of his energies are being spent on securing a Development Series drive for 2013.
“That’s definitely number one plan – to try and get a drive in the DV8,” he said.
“I definitely want to do it properly, with a team that has a link to a V8 Supercar team. The access to drivers and data can’t be beaten. If you look at the guys like Scott Pye, Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat and Scott McLaughlin, they’ve proved that it’s important to have that link as it speeds up the learning process.”
The penultimate round of the Dunlop Series will be held at Winton Motor Raceway on November 16-18.
