Jason Bright is eagerly anticipating the new Virgin Australia Supercars season with Prodrive Racing Australia having already enjoyed a brief taste of a FG X Supercar.
The 43-year-old is returning to the Ford stable he previously drove for during 2005-2006 in a deal which sees him bring his own Racing Entitlements Contract to Prodrive from Brad Jones Racing.
Bright says his transition from BJR has been easier than most and has been further aided by a brief run in a Prodrive FG X at Winton in December.
The 20-time Supercars race winner jumped behind the wheel of Garry Jacobson’s Dunlop Series Falcon during a rookie day test at the rural Victoria circuit.
Bright was pleasantly surprised by the FG X’s characteristics following seven seasons campaigning a BJR Commodore.
He will complete his first run in his 2017 machine at the Sydney Motorsport Park test on February 21.
“It wasn’t my seat insert and the pedals and steering were not set up for me exactly, but it was good chance to hop in the car and have a quick drive of it,” Bright told Speedcafe.com.
“I was very happy with it and it was very different to the BJR car.
“I was surprised by how different it was in some ways but it didn’t do anything that surprised me.
“I was very comfortable in the car straight away. It is pretty strong in a couple of areas and I can see why it qualifies as well as it has.
“I jumped in a car that is competitive and at a track where they (Prodrive) have been competitive so you would expect it to be pretty reasonable.
“Until you drive it on other circuits you don’t get much of a feeling of where it is strong and where it is weak, but it seems pretty good.”
Now the oldest driver on the Supercars grid, the 1998 Bathurst winner feels energised to be back at Prodrive, which he hopes will see him return to the sharp end of the grid.
Bright scored six top 10 finishes last season with his last race win arriving at Pukekohe in 2014.
Such is the promise of the Prodrive package, he believes a strong campaign may prolong his Supercars career further than expected.
“I’m pretty excited to be moving to PRA and there should be some improvements coming (for the cars) so it all bodes well,” he added.
“I think the move is a good thing but I’m not taking anything away from BJR.
“I’ve landed an extremely good drive with a very good team and with competitive team-mates.
“If the cars are strong and I can get some results then I will extend my career a bit longer than what people expect.”
Bright is however yet to learn the identity of his engineer for the coming season with Prodrive currently reorganising its engineering department.
The squad will launch the MEGA Limited backed #56 Falcon on February 15.
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