DUNLOP Series rookie Max Vidau is drawing on his sprintcar experience in a bid to get up to speed in one of the most coveted seats on the grid.
The Carrera Cup Australia race winner has this season slotted into the #17 Anderson Motorsport Mustang which once upon a time was run out of DJR Team Penske and last year powered Zak Best to second in Super2.
Vidau made a steady debut at Bathurst, turning starts of 10th and 12th into finishes of 10th and seventh.
After a three-month wait, he’ll get back into it next week as Wanneroo Raceway hosts Round 2, with sprintcar lessons from representing his family’s MVA Racing outfit in the summer still fresh in mind.
“Every time you get in the sprintcar it’s an absolute mission, you’re lucky if you get two laps before you go into time trials,” said Vidau.
“We’re only coming in as a little family operation, and we end up getting our stuff together by the B-Main, which means we end up just short of making the feature.
“There’s a lot to learn on the fly and everything happens quite fast, which just makes everything else seem a little calmer.
“While there’s not any obvious traits that can be applied to the Supercar, you do become very comfortable using the throttle to rotate the car and driving it off a four-wheel slide.
“That has shown up a few times in the wet, where the conditions see a lot of that driving style.”
Vidau has kept sharp with a pair of recent tests – one in the MVA Porsche Cup car at The Bend, followed by a visit to Winton with Anderson Motorsport – as well as utilising Thomas Randle’s Dream Simulations equipment.
“I’m not much of a sim guru, but the Dream Simulation facility is mightily impressive and a couple hours there has given me a major headstart on the learning process for Perth,” added Vidau.
Ryan Wood won both Super2 races last year at Wanneroo, setting the wheels in motion for his promotion to Walkinshaw Andretti United’s main game roster.
