Trans Am star to make Super2 debut at Bathurst

A regular in the Trico Trans Am Series with Dream Racing, Rice will pilot the Holden ZB Commodore last raced by Aron Shields at the Sandown 500.

Alongside Shields, Rice recently tested with the team at Winton Motor Raceway and has been given the nod to make his first Super2 start at Mount Panorama.

“I was very grateful for the opportunity that they gave me to jump in and test the car a couple of months ago and now I’ve been offered the opportunity to jump in at Bathurst,” Rice told Speedcafe.

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“It is daunting for me. I’ve been there in the Trans Am and a couple of times in production cars, but nothing sort of as serious as this. It’s a pretty big thing for me.

“I feel pretty privileged for them to trust me with that opportunity and I’ll go into it with open eyes.

“The biggest unknown, with the car with myself, I’ve only had fairly limited time in the car. That’s just gonna be a big learning process for myself and that’s what the weekend will just be is.

“Just learning the car and making sure that I just apply everything right and do the right thing.

“I’m lucky that I’ve at least been to Bathurst and can go in there with a little bit of experience at the track.”

For Rice, there’s no intention to set the world on fire when he gets to The Mountain.

Although there is a view towards 2025 and competing in the Super2 Series full-time, the young gun just wants to get his first runs on the board.

“I think if we can come home with a straight car, that’ll make the Chahdas very happy,” said Rice.

“Just finish. Just show to myself that we can drive one of these cars competently and that’ll just be the goal for the weekend is just finish with a straight car.

“We’re working very closely at the moment with our sponsors and everybody trying to put a program together to be on the Supercars calendar for next year.

“Super2 has been our goal to develop into over the past 12 to 18 months. So this is one of the first steps to doing that.

“We’ve got the one off this year and then fingers crossed we can put together a program for a full season for 2025.”