Jamie Whincup maintains that he has no plans to join the growing number of Supercars stars to race GT3 machinery, despite recently sampling a Tekno McLaren.
Whincup cut laps in Tekno Autosports’ 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour winning 650S GT3 at Norwell on the Gold Coast as part of a Triple Eight ride day.
The McLaren is the second GT3 car Whincup has driven in 12 months after a brief run in an Audi R8 at Sydney Motorsport Park last year.
Several Supercars stars have raced in Australian GT and the Bathurst 12 Hour over recent years, most notably Whincup’s team-mates Craig Lowndes and Shane van Gisbergen.
Whincup, however, has long maintained his desire to focus on the Supercars Championship, which features a calendar that stretches from February through December.
“It was fun, nothing serious, just a couple of laps around Norwell for a laugh,” Whincup told Speedcafe.com of the McLaren drive.
“It was great and nice for Jonathon (Webb, Tekno team owner) to let me have a few laps in his car.
“But let’s not get too carried away. It was just a bit of fun.
“I enjoyed it, but it is a half a million dollar car so I think anyone would enjoy it.”
Tekno runs three McLarens in the Australian GT Championship but has yet to lock in its full driver line-up for the remainder of the endurance events.
Webb affirms that he has not approached Whincup about a drive, but suggests that racing GTs can be a good escape from the grind of the Supercars circus.
“As much as it’s serious business, I think the GT stuff is good to just put your feet up and enjoy driving a race car,” Webb told Speedcafe.com.
“You don’t get that opportunity in a V8 Supercar. It’s all business and the GTs are a chance for the drivers to enjoy themselves.”
Apart from the Race of Champions exhibition event, Whincup has not raced outside of V8 Supercars since his rookie year with Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2003.
Currently in his 11th consecutive season with Triple Eight, his approach is the polar opposite to Van Gisbergen, who races almost every week in disciplines as diverse as Supercars, GT3 and drifting.
Despite Whincup’s relatively narrow focus, Webb has no doubts that the six-time Supercars champion would be quickly on the pace if he did jump into a GT race.
“He’d be good in anything,” said Webb.
“You don’t win that many championships and only be good in a V8 Supercar.
“I’m not saying he’d be able to jump straight in the McLaren, set a new lap record and beat Shane around Bathurst, but it wouldn’t take too long before any of the Supercar drivers would put on a good show.”
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