JAXON Evans has declared his Porsche prospects are not finished despite opting for a change of course in his promising career.
Evans was earlier this week confirmed for a rookie full-time campaign in Supercars next year, in the Brad Jones Racing/SCT Logistics seat vacated by the retiring Jack Smith.
That will see the 27-year-old Kiwi relocate from Europe back to Australia, and likely for more than a single season.
However, Evans has already since been named in a Porsche-backed entry for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, he hopes.
“It’s certainly not over,” Evans told V8 Sleuth of his Porsche career.
“I’m not on the outside there, I’m still heavily connected with Porsche themselves.
“I think the news last night of the 12 Hour gig reflects that and hopefully shows that I’m not closed off to GT racing in the future and certainly not closed off to Porsche.
“It was just about making the best decision for myself and getting myself, not back on the map but a bit more present here in Australia, where I’d like to eventually have a life set up, family and whatnot.
“But I would still like to continue doing the big GT events, so with Porsche we’re still in contact, still chatting to them quite often and hopefully the 12 Hour is the first of a few big races that I’ll be able to do with them next year.”
Helping his cause to continue pursuing international ventures is that Supercars remains limited to 12 rounds for next year, giving plenty of spare weekends to explore other events.
Evans will enter 2024 with three Supercars Championship starts under his belt, all as an SCT co-driver.
He was somewhat a surprise choice to take over from Smith, much of the focus having centred on three-time Super2 runner-up Zak Best – but that’s not to say it was a last-minute arrangement.
“After the enduros this year, the team were quite happy with the performance, and obviously dealing with Andy Jones a bit more directly with the SCT connection, he floated the question, if there was an idea of coming back to Australia at some stage,” Evans explained.
“So I would say from Bathurst, we just kept in close contact and I have been going through the processes of making sure I have the best option for my career next year, both with Porsche, another manufacturer I tested with, and obviously the Supercars idea.
“It was not a last-minute thing, there was a lot of back-and-forth and a lot of discussions being had, but it really ramped up from mid-November.”
Evans will join incumbents Andre Heimgartner, Bryce Fullwood and Macauley Jones in BJR’s 2024 line-up.
