ARMED with a rebuilt chassis and confirmation of another NASCAR outing, Cam Waters has a pep in his step at Taupō.
A two-time championship runner-up, scrolling all the way down to 16th in the standings to find Waters’ name is unfamiliar territory.
But unlike Bathurst where things went awry on multiple fronts, the Monster Energy star showed the kind of form at Albert Park that would suggest a 12th career victory is within reach this weekend.
It hasn’t been the most straightforward path to Taupō, including the need for his brand-new Tickford Racing Gen3 Mustang to be sent north to Pace Innovations in Queensland for repairs following that controversial clash with Matt Payne.
“The car had to go to Pace to get some repairs done, so pretty well just cut it off at the firewall and start it again. It had a fair bit of damage,” Waters told V8 Sleuth.
“The guys did a really good job to strip it quickly and get it up there and get it back so we could take our time to put it back together properly, and it’s back to how it should be now.”
The 29-year-old has also been to the United States and back between rounds, making his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway.
“I guess I was probably refreshed to go and do something that’s totally different and outside your comfort zone,” said Waters, who’ll also race at Kansas Speedway next month.
“As much fun as I had over there and it was awesome, I’m still pretty fired up about the Supercars Championship and getting back to where we should be.
“While I was over there I was still doing meetings and stuff with the team and working out what we need to do at Taupō, so the focus is still very much to go win some races.”
Waters does take some prior Taupō experience (via a SuperTourer) into this weekend’s Supercars round. He’s also made use of teammate Thomas Randle’s Dream Simulation equipment to aid preparations.
“I’m sure once I get there and do a couple of laps it will all come flooding back to me,” he said.
“I have been on the sim with Tom, so that has been really useful and I’m excited to go there. It’s a new track to Supercars and it’s just awesome to be going back to New Zealand.”
A single 90-minute practice session will be held today, starting 10:55am AEST (12:55pm local time).
