Lismore driver’s ‘awesome’ Bathurst experience

NATHAN Herne said “it was an awesome experience to drive the car to the limit and have a bit of fun”.

MUSCLE UP: Lismore-born Nathan Herne raced at Bathurst as part of the Aussie Tin Tops category.

NATHAN HERNE has described his ‘awesome’ Bathurst experience which saw him pull double duties as a support series driver and pit crew with Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Prior to the event, all focus centred on whether Herne would drive for Garry Rogers Motorsport in their wildcard entry. Instead, Herne was forced to turned his attention to the Aussie Tin Tops category and mechanical duties with GRM.

Herne said despite the controversy in the lead up, the experience would be worthwhile in the long run.

“It was a good experience to go down there and I think I enjoyed the weekend more than what I would’ve if I was racing in the (Bathurst) 1000.”

Herne put together a solid weekend as he returned to the driving seat by winning the TA2 class in the Aussie Tin Tops as well as third overall in the category.

“It is quite a difficult track to get your head around with all the elevation changes … you’ve just got to be two steps ahead around there and it’s a real drivers track, you can get away with not having the car set-up at 100 per cent there just by pulling up your skirt and driving a bit faster.

“Towards the end of the weekend we just eliminated gremlins as we went on, the last race we had a car that was doing 110 per cent and the set up was perfect … it was an awesome experience to drive the car to the limit and have a bit of fun.”

With motorsport entering its off-season now, Herne is keeping his mind open to future opportunities after demonstrating his wares on one of Australia’s hardest tracks.

“I’ve got to see what happens, I’ve got a few relationships with different teams that I’ve never had before most notably with Garry Rogers Motorsport so we just have to see where that takes me.

“I’ve sorta stopped planning for the future … you set yourself up for disappointment if you think something is going to come easy to you, for now it’s working hard and trying to get as much experience in different things as I can.”