Benalla’s Zak Best will make a long-awaited return to the V8 Supercars grid this weekend, with the Ryco Enduro Cup getting under way at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.

Best will line-up as a co-driver alongside Blanchard Racing Team main driver Aaron Cameron in the No. 3 CoolDrive Racing Mustang across the endurance events, with this weekend’s 500km event at Tailem Bend in South Australia, which runs from Friday to Sunday, marking the start of the two-race Enduro Cup.

While the weekend will mark Best’s return to the V8 grid after a period of absence last year, having finished runner-up in the Super2 feeder series for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024 and impressing in various co-driver and wildcard opportunities in the main game across that span, the Benalla talent has been behind the wheel recently in preparation.

Scoring a wildcard entry in the SuperUte series at the Townsville 500 in July, Best, racing alongside sister Ellexandra as teammates for the first time since 2018, qualified ninth, before recording finishing positions of eighth, fourth, ninth and fifth across the four-race program in what was a fairly strong outing ahead of the enduro series.

The official pre-enduro test day at Queensland Raceway in August was also a solid expedition for Best; however, the day wasn’t without its hiccups.

With eight hours of track time available for all 27 cars to get co-drivers back up to speed and familiar with the processes required for endurance events, Best and Cameron ended the day atop the laps-completed chart, crossing the line 205 times and covering 639.6km in the process.

While he did bring out the day’s only red flag after going off at turn three and getting beached in the gravel trap, it was valuable time behind the wheel for Best, who has not competed in a Supercars race in almost two years.

The weekend’s 500km event will be followed by the second and final endurance event on the calendar and the most prestigious race in Australian motor sport, the Bathurst 1000, from October 9 to 12, with the highest point-scoring pair across the two races crowned the Ryco Enduro Cup champions.

There is plenty of reward that comes with that title, too, with the main driver from the winning Enduro Cup pair automatically gaining entry into the new ‘Supercars Finals’ format, which will see the top 10 in the drivers standings, plus the Enduro and Sprint Cup winners, battle it out in an elimination format across the final three rounds of the season to be crowned champion.

While ineligible for the finals given his co-driver status, a strong performance in the Enduro Cup events will no doubt boost Best’s prospects of securing a full-time seat next season.

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Sunday, 5th February 2023

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