Super2 Series leader Zak Best has declared himself open to any opportunity on the Supercars Championship grid in 2024.
The 21-year-old is regarded as a ‘Tickford driver’, an association which is into its third year, but has put himself on the market during a wild and rapidly evolving silly season.
Best is indeed driving for Tickford Racing again in this year’s enduros, this time as co-driver to James Courtney, but, after two years in Super2 with the Campbellfield-based squad, he is now competing for that title with Anderson Motorsport.
“For 2024, I’m still openly looking to get a drive anywhere on the grid,” he told Speedcafe.
“I don’t have preferences; I’d just be willing to get into any seat anywhere available.
“The common thing is, everyone thinks I’m tied with Tickford, which is not really the case; I’m just a co-driver at the moment, that’s all it is.
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“I’m just doing everything I can, on- and off-track, to get a seat, but definitely I’m not with Tickford; that’s the main thing.
“It gets people a bit confused but just a co-driver now for them; that’s the relationship.”
The Benalla native was an unexpected call-up for Tickford’s 2021 Bathurst 1000 campaign when a second year of COVID travel restrictions put paid to Alexandre Premat’s chances of a return to Mount Panorama.
Best and Jack Le Brocq finished 15th that Sunday, with the former among the quicker co-drivers in his debut Championship event.
He finished second in both that year’s Super2 Series and the next, to Broc Feeney and Declan Fraser respectively, with the latter landing a seat in the top tier at Tickford when Jake Kostecki suddenly lost his drive in the last off-season.
Best is pushing for a 2024 deal sooner rather than later.
“I’m pushing to get a seat anywhere and that’s my main goal; that and winning the Super2 Series,” he remarked.
“Ideally, get a deal locked down as soon as possible but it doesn’t always work out that way, so we’ll see how it all pans out for me.”
Best leads the Super2 Series by 66 points over Kai Allen, who will contest October’s Great Race in a wildcard Dick Johnson Racing entry and is thought to have a longer-term deal with the Stapylton squad already, while fourth-placed Ryan Wood is considered likely to be promoted by Walkinshaw Andretti United to its #2 Mustang in 2024.
In one of the sillier Supercars Championship silly seasons, seats are now starting to fill up.
Tickford is understood to have locked in Cameron Waters while Thomas Randle is most likely to remain if the team does indeed slim down to two entries.
With Richie Stanaway apparently coming into the frame at Grove Racing, the more likely vacancies are at Matt Stone Racing and the Blanchard Racing Team.
MSR’s first VCS race winner, Jack Le Brocq, is understood to be off to Erebus Motorsport to replace future Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Will Brown.
BRT is believed to be advancing Aaron Love, currently seventh in the series standings, from its Super2 programme to the top flight, but is also working on standing up a second entry for 2024, off the back of a wildcard campaign in this year’s enduros.
Team 18 is yet to confirm a driver for its #20 Camaro, although the Stanaway-Grove link points to the increasing possibility that David Reynolds would move from Braeside to Mount Waverley, while PremiAir Racing is expected to carry over a duo of James Golding and Tim Slade.
Before all of that plays out, the OTR SuperSprint starts today at The Bend, where Best pulled off a maiden pole position in a wildcard Tickford Mustang last year.
The Supercars field is on-track tomorrow morning for Practice 1 from 09:45 local time/10:15 AEST.
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