Supercars has opted for a major shake-up for the second running of the 500-kilometre enduro at The Bend, moving it from the International layout to the shorter, punchier West version.
Stewart got a good taste of the West layout Monday last week when he completed the first of his allocated rookie test days with Erebus Motorsport.
Having starred at The Bend 500 as a co-driver back in September, Stewart is well placed to debate the merits of both layouts – and left Tailem Bend confident Supercars has made a good choice.
“I quite enjoyed it to be honest,” he told Speedcafe.
“It kind of just breaks up the track because on the International, it is a fun layout, but everything’s kind of sweeping and the tyres don’t really get a break.
“So it was nice that you got that tight little hairpin, and then there’s a little right-left flowy section after that/
“It was a nice change and it sets up a good passing opportunity off that fast left to dive down the inside.
“We’ll have to see how it goes for racing, but I think it was pretty positive after doing some laps around there.”
The Bend test was also a shakedown of sorts for Stewart as he steps into a different chassis than the one campaigned by Jack Le Brocq at the end of last season.
With some damage from Adelaide discovered in the Le Brocq chassis, Stewart will make his full-time debut aboard the ex-Cooper Murray car that became the spare after Murray’s crash in Tasmania.
Erebus will bring a new chassis online after the New Zealand double-header this year with no set decision on whether that will go to Murray or Stewart.
The outing was also Stewart’s first time working with Daniel Frenchman, who arrives from Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Trans Am program and replaces Barry Ryan as race engineer on the #9 Camaro.
“Dan was awesome,” said Stewart. “He’s very switched on. He hasn’t done a lot in Supercars but he’s done plenty with other cars, so it was good to have some of his knowledge, and then also learn from some of our guys.
“So it was all about sharing knowledge on the test day, and learning how each other work, and just trying to extract the most performance out of each other.”
Despite this being his rookie season, Stewart has set his sights on the lofty target of being a Finals contender.
“I’d love to try for finals in my first season,” said Stewart. “We saw that with Kai [Allen] last year, so there’s no reason why not.
‘Me and Cooper were quick at The Bend in Bathurst last year, so hopefully, as a pairing, we can help continue to push the team forward, and in the sprint rounds, and not just enduros.
“I think it’s definitely achievable, as long as we don’t have any horror rounds. We need to stay consistent and try and be there at the end.”
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