After another tough weekend in the Dunlop Series at Winton, Casey Stoner is already looking forward to his Bathurst debut in the category in October.
The MotoGP convert drove a V8 production car around the venue in February to learn the famous layout, although expects that it will feel far different at racing speeds.
“It’s the circuit that I’ve been dreaming of driving one of these cars around,” he said of Bathurst.
“It’d be great to ride a bike around it, but I’d like a bit more run-off first!
“Australian motorsport, for me, is Bathurst, so I’m very much looking forward to those races.”
Stoner’s weekend at Winton was again derailed by an incident in Race 1, leaving him to start the second and third encounters from the back of the field due to the class’ grid format.
Having fought his way through from 33rd to 22nd in Race 2 and 28th to 16th in Race 3, Stoner says the ‘passing practice’ is starting to wear thin.
“There’s a few of us that normally get together throughout the races that have had some bad misfortune in the first race but in general I want to be racing some of the quicker guys to be able to actually learn from them,” he said.
“It’s all good making a heap of passes but we have got a good car and I think, a better car than a lot of them out there that I’m passing.
“I want to get up to the sharper end and actually be racing some of the people with similar equipment where my pace more is.”
Thankfully for Stoner, the season-ending Bathurst and Sydney Olympic Park meetings follow a two-race format without the reverse grid.
Stoner sits 18th in the points standings after the Winton round, which was won by series leader Dale Wood.
