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Craig Lowndes’ Bathurst co-driver and current Super2 series leader Declan Fraser says that Supercars should do more to support Super2 drivers’ progression into the main category.
On his debut in top-level Supercars at Bathurst, the 22-year-old Super2 points leader drove to a solid eighth position with seven-time winner Lowndes to be the highest-placed wildcard in Bathurst history.
“There’s a clear path, but I think there is a definitely a way Supercars could probably make it even better for Super2 guys, maybe,” Fraser told Speedcafe.com.
“We used to have a thing where you’d get prize money that would help you get into the main game, which unfortunately has been taken away, which makes it harder to find the commercial backing to move up.
Fraser watched Lowndes take the race start from 16th on the grid in the Supercheap Auto #888 Commodore, the veteran avoiding significant carnage in the opening laps to put the pair on a solid footing as Fraser drove his first ever stint in The Great Race.
“It was chaos out there at the start, that’s for sure,” Fraser told Speedcafe.com.
“That rain at the very start threw in very mixed conditions and a lot of people making mistakes which probably didn’t need to be made so early on in the piece, but Craig kept his cool and all of the experience of all the years he’s had here definitely showed and came into play in that.”
“He got us into a really good position and I came out and we ended up leading the race a little bit – and that in itself was a special moment in itself, to lead the pack away from a Safety Car restart”
Fraser was undaunted as he mixed it with the main game drivers around Mount Panorama.
“The lap that we came into pit, I had Shane [van Gisbergen] all over my tail and I don’t think there’s a more daunting sight than those orange numbers coming at you.
“We didn’t have the true car pace that we would have like … [so] I just made sure that I kept my heels clean, made sure I put every foot forward that I could and make no mistakes … that’s what we did.”
The drive was a positive step towards Fraser’s goal of a full-time drive in Supercars for 2023 as he leads the Super2 championship with two rounds remaining.
“Some type of initiative would be really nice to just boost the Super2 guys up and make sure they’ve got a helping hand to move up; we’ll just see what happens in the future; hopefully a few more RECs come along and hopefully next year I’m on the grid regardless.”
