“I HAVEN’T had a good December for a long time.”
Jaxon Evans’ joy at securing the final seat on the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship grid was the heartache of perennial bridesmaid Zak Best.
Three years in a row Best has finished as Super2 runner-up, and in both December 2022 and December 2023 he’s been pipped at the post for a main game opportunity.
Twelve months ago, it was Declan Fraser edging him out to replace Jake Kostecki at Tickford Racing; now, it’s Evans over Best in the SCT Logistics seat housed within Brad Jones Racing.
Frustration and disappointment were the key themes when V8 Sleuth spoke with the Benalla product yesterday.
“I’ve tried everything I could to put myself in the best position to make sure I can seal a deal somewhere and it’s a bit frustrating that we didn’t pull off the deal that we were working on,” said Best.
“We attempted to obtain the funds but didn’t quite get there.
“It’s a bit disappointing and frustrating with some of the other guys moving up having only done one year of Super2 and I’ve done the full apprenticeship. Just disappointed.”
The 22-year-old is now plotting what 2024 might look like, his cause not helped by the fact most leading co-drives have already been allocated.
“I’m not sure of where or what I will do now,” he admitted.
“I don’t know what more I can do to show that I’m deserving or have earned a drive. I just can’t break in yet, but hopefully 2025 is my year to get it done.
“I haven’t given up yet, but the light (at the end of the tunnel) is getting smaller.”
Reflecting on his 2023, Best exuded gratitude for getting another crack at the Super2 crown and was apologetic for his Adelaide error which opened the door for Kai Allen to snatch the title by just six points.
“I had a pretty good year. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without the sponsors to continuously support me and put a last-minute deal together, so big props to my sponsors and supporters for helping me do that,” said Best.
“But for Michael and the team at AMS, first year as a team together, they’re not like Matt White or Eggleston or those guys that have run Super2 forever, they’re a full privateer team, like Michael is on the tools working on the car himself and preparing the car.
“It’s a very small team and to do what they have done in their first year is pretty incredible.
“It’s disappointing I couldn’t put it together in Adelaide; one small mistake, like my only mistake for the whole year, cost us the championship. I feel like I have let them down a little bit but hopefully they have a good year next year.”
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.
