Burgess held the Head of Motorsport role at Supercars until the end of last year before, somewhat controversially, leaving to join Team 18 as team principal.
In a revealing conversation with Neil Crompton on the Supercars broadcast from Albert Park, Burgess offered some insight into that decision.
He said that a tough 2023 was the reason he decided to vacate the role, having overseen the troubled introduction of the new Gen3 platform.
“I actually found what I thought was a good role for me,” said Burgess. “I really enjoyed the last role at Supercars as Head of Motorsport. But everything that went on last year… it was too much mentally and physically.
“So it was time to come back out of that role and into this role and I’m loving actually being back in pit lane, being competitive again, looking at the timing screen and really having a passion for what goes on there. It’s very different.”
Another point touched on by Burgess was his time in Europe working with James Courtney, and in particular the Monza testing crash in a Jaguar F1 car that effectively brought Courtney’s open-wheel dreams to an end.
The pair would later reunite at Dick Johnson Racing and win the 2010 Supercars title.
“It could have been one of those accidents where he isn’t here today, it was that big,” said Burgess of the Monza shunt.
“It was 69G. I took him for his CT scan the next morning when he arrived back in the UK and that’s when we saw all of the swelling and concussion he had.
“It was a big accident and it put him back a few years. And that’s why 2010 was such a memorable year for James and myself when we managed to pull that championship together with DJR. It was pretty special.”
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