TODD Hazelwood is looking at next year as an opportunity to rejuvenate his career, as his six-season spell as a Supercars full-timer comes to a halt.
The Blanchard Racing Team is turning to James Courtney and Aaron Love for its expanded 2024 Repco Supercars Championship program, and Hazelwood yesterday confirmed he’s missed out on a primary seat altogether.
The 28-year-old isn’t about to kick stones or throw in the towel, though.
“I think Todd Hazelwood in 2024, he certainly won’t be bored, he’ll be pretty busy,” the man himself told V8 Sleuth.
“Obviously I won’t be full-time in Supercars next year but for me ultimately the biggest ambition moving forward is to make sure I align myself with something that’s going to be competitive and give myself success.
“I guess that’s something that has been missing for me in probably my last three or four years in the sport here in Supercars, I have probably struggled to align myself with the right people at the right time to achieve what I want to achieve personally in this game.
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“So moving forward, that’s the big ambition, to secure myself a co-drive and still be in the Supercars space.
“It’s still where I want to be moving forward, so that’s priority number one, but I guess priority number two is working out what else I do to keep myself in the car and busy and sharp.”
Hazelwood is eager to try his hand at a range of disciplines – and he’s due to make a start on that front next month, having been announced to drive a Porsche 911 at the Shannons Adelaide Rally.
“The cool thing I guess with taking a sidestep away from Supercars and not having essentially a 12-month commitment to Supercars land, is to have the opportunity to look at some other categories and maybe something a bit more left of field to have a bit of fun and but also some success in cars that I may not have driven before,” he said.
“I certainly have got a burning desire to be involved in the GT3 space, Porsche Carrera Cup, maybe something in the off-road space as well.
“I would love to have a crack at a sprintcar in the off-season, maybe even look at doing a one-off appearance in the Australian Rally Championship as well. Who knows what the future may hold.
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“From my point of view, I’m actually quite excited.
“It’s obviously not full-time in the sport but I’ll still be involved in Supercars, I’ll still be at probably every race meeting next year as well, so I’ll certainly be keeping myself busy.”
Hazelwood added there’s plenty of fire in the belly to perform well for BRT at Gold Coast and Adelaide.
“I still love the guys here and love the crew and I have really enjoyed my time here as well, so I certainly want to show I can finish the season on a high,” he said.
“I have always gone well at street circuits in the past and hopefully we can finish this little chapter together on a high and who knows what might happen in the future. I’m a big believer that you don’t burn your bridges in this sport.
“The Blanchard family has been really good to me this year and have supported me in more ways than one, so I can’t thank them enough for that.”
