Super3 front-runner Cameron McLeod has completed his Super2 outing with Walkinshaw Andretti United in a test day at Winton Motor Raceway.
The third-generation racer today enjoyed seat time behind the wheel of the #2 ZB Commodore piloted by Ryan Wood in this year’s Super2 Series, after the squad’s test day was held over due to rain at Winton on Tuesday.
While Supercars regulations restricted him to just 10 laps, McLeod was left impressed by the experience.
“It was great,” he told Speedcafe.
“The WAU boys have done a great job on the interior and just making everything look and feel really nice.
“The car handled really, really well; it had a lot of point, it was nice and stable. Obviously, you can feel the more aero through the sweeper and stuff like that.”
With Wood earning a berth in one of WAU’s Gen3 Ford Mustangs in next year’s Repco Supercars Championship, and Zach Bates expected to stay on for a second season in its Dunlop Super2 Series programme, it does have at least one set free for its 2024 second-tier campaign.
McLeod, though, who has raced in a variety of machinery and categories this year, is keeping a somewhat open mind about what his near future holds.
“We want to stay Super2, but you never know,” he explained.
“At the moment, we’re focusing on Super2 – that’s my goal – but I never want to shut out another opportunity so I think for the moment we’ll keep focusing on Super2 and that’s kind of it so far.
“We’ve not finalised anything for next year but I think that WAU test was certainly another step to put us in the right direction for next year.”
McLeod sits third in the Super3 Series standings, largely due to an unfortunate double DNF at Sandown, but has driven the #92 Nissan Altima to class victory in six of the 10 races held thus far.
He is also coming off a sweep of the Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Cars round at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, when he steered a Stone Brothers Racing-built FG Falcon once driven by Shane van Gisbergen.
The Adelaide Parklands Circuit which hosts the final round of the Super2/Super3 season next week is a brand-new experience, but one which the grandson of 1987 Bathurst 1000 winner Peter McLeod is confident about.
“It’ll be tricky,” admitted Cameron McLeod.
“It’s another street track, of course, so you’ve got to stay off the walls. But I think at Townsville, we went pretty good, and obviously the first round [Newcastle] was a street track as well.
“For me, I’m quite comfortable at a street track – touch wood – and I think the car we’ve got is really nice over kerbs, so I think we’ve just got to finish off the year strong; that’s the best thing we can possibly do.
“In a sense, I’ve got nothing really to lose – except for Brad Neill’s Altima at Turn 8! – so hopefully it’s alright.”
The Vailo Adelaide 500 takes place on November 23-26.
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