ZAK Best remains laser-focused on netting an elusive Super2 title despite his Repco Supercars Championship dream potentially slipping away for yet another year.
Best was the second-tier category’s runner-up in both 2021 and 2022, and next weekend enters Round 4 of this season with a 66-point lead in hand.
The Benalla product has previously described this as a ‘now or never’ period of his career… and it’s looking increasingly likely that he’ll still be on the main game sidelines next year.
Any hope that Best would end up graduating with Tickford Racing was scuppered when the Campbellfield squad opted to return to a two-car model for 2024.
James Courtney and Aaron Love are the favourites to lob at the Blanchard Racing Team, and Best doesn’t appear to be in the running at Matt Stone Racing, which is hunting a proven/experienced driver for its sole vacancy.
That all paints a grim picture for the 21-year-old’s chances, unless there is one last silly season shock twist to come.
Nevertheless, Best is fixated on the job currently at hand.
“The main goal for this year is to win the Super2 Series and that’s where my full focus is,” he told V8 Sleuth.
“But I’ve still got the enduros to do and I need to make sure I do a good job in that.
“My goal would be to be top three in all of the co-driver sessions.
“Whether we have got the car speed and everything to do it, but I feel like that’s a realistic goal to be top three in the co-driver sessions across both rounds.”
Best is joining forces with 2010 Supercars champion Courtney at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000; Super2 will also feature at both of those events.
Pressed on how he’s coping with the distractions of a wild silly season, Best said: “I guess you have still got to be aware of what’s going on.
“My full focus is on Super2 but I haven’t given up hope and I’d still like to be on the grid in ’24.
“That’s where I’m at, at the moment.”
V8 Sleuth’s ongoing coverage of the Dunlop Series for Super2 and Super3 is proudly presented by Biante – Fuel your passion with winning model cars. Visit Biante here to check out their range of model cars in a range of scales from 1:64 to 1:10.
