Fullwood enjoying Eseries experience

Rookie Supercars driver Bryce Fullwood is embracing the challenge of the V8 Supercars Eseries, as the sport looks to retain its brand during the corona virus pandemic.

Fullwood, in his first season with Walkinshaw-Andretti United after winning the Dunlop Super 2 Series with Matt Stone racing in 2019, told Sports Drive on Tuesday he was enjoying the early stages of his Supercars journey.

“We’re creating new pages in the history books at the moment,” Fullwood said.

“Certainly not the most ideal situation for me as a rookie trying to make a career, but at the same time there’s a lot more serious stuff going on. It’s something I’m not going to forget any time soon.”

The competition and it’s drivers have reverted to the Eseries format over the past three weeks, logging on to drive in simulated races through an online server, the drivers in racing simulators that replicate the vehicles themselves.

The Supercars season had already commenced when the COVID-19 pandemic caused border restrictions in late March, with the opening round at Adelaide completed and racing set down for Melbourne as part of the Grand Prix.

The season then went in to recess, relaunching with the Eseries earlier this month.

Fullwood reflected on his tough start in Adelaide where he finished 18th on the grid, and the postponement of the season in Melbourne.

“Adelaide for me there was a lot on my shoulders going in to that weekend, my performance certainly wasn’t what I was capable and I probably showed my worst rather than my best,” he said.

“Coming out the other side of that weekend I was much happier and felt like I knew what I was in for a fair bit more going in to the (Melbourne) Grand Prix which was our next weekend.”

“I started off really strong there with really good speeds, we were halfway through our qualifying stages and that’s when the event got cancelled.”

Fullwood admitted being in a racing simulator was a new experience for him.

“When I was racing super 2 I was still working full time as well, so for me I didn’t have access to a simulator at home so I had done next to no racing on a simulator at all before this event,” he said.

“There’s a few lucky people out there that have simulated racing as their hobby which has really helped them and it’s fallen in to their laps a little bit. It certainly wasn’t that way for me.”

The Northern Territory born Fullwood, who is the first NT born full-time Supercars driver in the competition’s history, said preparation on his simulator during the week had become key.

“It spent a lot of hours on there last week trying to do really well, but actually felt like I went too far and spent too much time on there,” he said.

“It is very different to driving a real racecar, you rely on your feel so much from what you feel through your backside in the seat, driving in a simulator you don’t have any of that, so there’s a lot more trial and error, and if it doesn’t work I’ll restart and go again in practice.”

With the Eseries set to continue for the next few weeks, Fullwood was open to quarantine hubs for racing when the competition returned to normal later in 2020.

“I’d be very open to going somewhere that we could hold all those races because at the end of the day we are all race car drivers, this is what we live for, if it meant we had to go to one track and do all our racing there I’d still put my hand up.”

Wednesday night’s virtual racing will feature IndyCars driver Will Power, with other drivers from other racing classes set to join the Eseries in recent weeks.

IMAGE: Walkinshaw Andretti United website.