Mawson likely to be granted licence for Bathurst 1000 drive

Joey Mawson is likely to be granted the licence which he needs to be on the grid in this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000.

The two-time S5000 champion, and hence Gold Star winner, has been in the frame for a drive with PremiAir Racing in the 2023 Supercars enduros.

However, while he meets Motorsport Australia’s requirements to issue a Superlicence, Supercars imposes additional criteria for it to approve a driver for competition in the Championship.

In the case of Mawson, who drove a PremiAir Camaro in February’s official pre-season test at Winton, he lacks the requisite Dunlop Super2 Series experience.

That would not change in time for the Sandown 500 in September, but there are two obvious alternatives for the Sydneysider, one being that the FIA upgrade his driver categorization to Gold and the other being Supercars invoking an ‘exceptional circumstances’ provision.

One way or another, Mawson now appears more likely than not to be given the green light to make a start in the Repco Supercars Championship.

While Supercars did not respond to Speedcafe’s questions by the time of publication, it is understood that the matter has been discussed directly by the Supercars Commission and it appears a formality that he will be granted what he needs from both the FIA and Supercars to compete.

In theory, then, the 27-year-old would be eligible to pair up with Tim Slade in the #23 Nulon Camaro at Sandown and Mount Panorama.

That entry is yet to have a co-driver confirmed and while clearing the FIA and/or Supercars is obviously a positive sign, that does not mean the gig is guaranteed.

PremiAir tested Matt Chahda and Kurt Kostecki, both of whom have Super2 and Supercars Championship experience, in the last fortnight and neither have been ruled out at this stage.

The case in favour for Mawson to be granted a ‘Supercars Superlicence’ (as opposed to merely meeting the Motorsport Australia licence criteria) was made by former Triple Eight Race Engineering Team Principal Roland Dane in his Speedcafe column this morning.

Dane argues that Mawson’s Formula 4 results in Europe mean, by the FIA’s criteria, he should be a Gold categorised driver, and hence is worthy of Supercars Championship competition, regardless of the value one places on S5000.

He leads that competition at present, having swept last weekend’s Winton round, after which he stated in apparent reference to licencing, “I like to do my talking on the track, so I hope this helps my case.”

The Sandown 500 takes place on September 15-17.