In 2020, the 22-year-old was denied a chance to contest the Bathurst 1000 with Garry Rogers Motorsport due to a lack of Superlicence points.
The controversial licence requirement has since been modified, and now there are fewer hurdles for Herne to overcome.
Herne has been reluctant to race in Super2 given the significant spend attached and remains steadfast in his commitment to Trans Am in the belief that he has shown he is capable.
The Lismore-born driver said he came “quite close” to securing his first Supercars start as a wildcard with PremiAir Racing and even tested with the team, but that ultimately fell through.
“It’s just one of those things. It probably wasn’t the best timing,” said Herne.
“From PremiAir’s side, they’ve got two cars they want to focus on and that’s what they made clear to me was that they want to get their results bang on and be consistently at the front.
“You don’t really want to be sidetracked by a third car, so I can fully understand the reasoning.
“For me, the whole point of the wildcard was to try and open the door for a co-drive and it had done that.
“Nothing’s locked in, and it would have been good to still go out there and get a really accurate read on myself one-on-one with the Supercars guys.”
Herne remains optimistic that PremiAir Racing will still pick him to co-drive alongside Richie Stanaway.
His teammate James Golding will have David Russell onboard the #31 Chevrolet Camaro, and with Cameron McLeod off to Matt Stone Racing to join Cameron Hill, the #62 car needs a new co-driver.
“It obviously comes down to if the team thinks I’m the man for the job – and hopefully they do,” Herne said.
“But I’m aware they’ve got a lot of other stuff going on from what I read online, obviously with the chance of being the homologation team. Their season is probably in the busiest part of the year.
“I haven’t heard what’s really the go with that [the co-drive] yet. I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that the results in Trans Am open that door for me to prove my worth.”
After so many years of trying to get on the grid, this year looks likely to be a last-ditch effort by Herne.
He remains highly motivated to get the ball rolling. A change of guard in Supercars as older drivers retire and a refreshed approach to driving standards has piqued his interest.
“It has to happen this year for me, to be honest,” he said.
“My phone is working overtime and whilst also trying to run the two-car team in Trans Am and TA2, I’m well aware that I’m not getting any younger.
“Right now I see that Supercars is in a change of guard. The older guys are starting to retire and move on. We’re getting some young blood in there.
“I see the writing on the wall, but the time is now to really strike, especially when they’ve relaxed the rules on the driving standards side of things.
“Supercars is really starting to flick a switch and get back towards the glory days. And for me, even just as a fan watching the racing, I’m loving it again.
“I think that’s probably the best time right now to try and get in there. I’ve been saying it since 2022. All I need is that one shot. I still stand by those words, and I just hope I get that shot.”
Herne said he will wait for PremiAir to tell him whether there is a co-drive for him before exploring other opportunities.
“PremiAir was willing to take the risk on doing the wildcard with me and supporting me through that and I really appreciate that,” he said.
“Nothing’s been said or done yet with the whole Supercar side of things, but the fact that Peter [Xiberras] and PremiAir were happy to listen and at least contemplate giving me the shot, I do appreciate that.
“It’ll probably rely on them giving their answer first before I start looking elsewhere. Then we’ll just go from there. I also have to weigh up my career as well because as I said, I’m not getting any younger so I need to make sure that, whilst I have a shot I’m opening every door I can.”
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