AS far as challenging Supercars initiations go, Declan Fraser’s visit to Winton today would be right up there.
The 2022 Super2 champion got his first laps as a Tickford Racing driver as his #56 Mustang had its shakedown.
Fraser ran in plain black today but will be in Tradie colours soon enough.
He and James Courtney completed a cleansweep of 100-plus-lap shakedowns for Tickford’s Gen3 quartet, but it didn’t come easy for the former Triple Eight protégé.
“Unfortunately for him he’s suffering from tonsillitis so he had to battle that all day,” Tickford CEO Tim Edwards revealed to V8 Sleuth.
“He was sucking lozenges and anything he could.
“It’s 40 degrees outside, so no cool suit, no driver fans, no drink bottles and 40 degrees with tonsillitis… welcome to Supercars!
“But he toughed it out, did 107 laps, some long runs; it was a really good first hitout for him.”
The 22-year-old’s condition didn’t stop him from enjoying the occasion, quite clearly.
“He just hopped out of the car and he has got the world’s biggest smile on his face,” Edwards said.
“He experienced soft tyres for the first time and it was a really productive day for him.
“He learnt a lot; it was his first day with his big boy pants on and as a professional race car driver.”
Speaking to the impressive mileage of his entire fleet to date, Edwards added: “Every one of our cars on every one of the days have done over 100 laps… from a reliability point of view, touch wood, it’s a strong start.”
