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Hazelwood has found himself thrust firmly in the spotlight in recent weeks, having gone from facing a season mostly on the sidelines, to landing the seat vacated by the reigning Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki.
He will line up this weekend in the #99 Erebus Camaro on what is technically a one-race deal, although it is widely expected that he will drive the car for the remainder of the season.
The Erebus seat will put a new pressure on Hazelwood, whose Supercars journey thus far has been spent at teams not expected to be regularly challenging for victories.
That’s not the case at Erebus, the team coming into the new season with form on its side, despite the upheaval on the driver front.
While acknowledging that a race winning seat comes with additional pressure, Hazelwood says it’s the kind of pressure that should be welcomed by a driver.
“I think you’ve got to embrace that pressure,” he said at the Erebus livery launch in Bathurst.
“Us as drivers, you want to have that expectation. It’s always a good thing, because it means your destiny is a good result if you put all the ingredients together.
“If the driver performs, there’s no reason why we can’t get trophies at the end of the day.
“That’s what we’re here to do as drivers, to embrace that pressure. And pressure builds diamonds.
“I say bring it on. For me it’s quite exciting to be in a situation where you’ve got a proven product, you’ve got all the ingredients. The team is unchanged as far as engineering and mechanics, we’ve got fantastic stability on that side of things.
“For me, it’s jump in the hot seat and it’s up to me to do the best job possible. It’s a very different mentality to what I’ve been used to the last few years in the sport, but it’s also a good one. I’m excited.”
When asked if he has clarity over his season-long plans, given the ad-hoc nature of his current arrangement with Erebus, Hazelwood reiterated that it is currently a wait-and-see situation.
“We’re taking out one day at a time at the moment,” he said. “It’s been a big month and a lot is happening behind the scenes.
“But I’m taking it round by round at this stage. I’m here at Bathurst and I’m here to do the best job for the team. What happens after that, we’ll wait and see.”
