It is back to the track for Mount Gambier racing superstar Jobe Stewart this weekend as he competes in the Dunlop Super2 Series 2025 season opener at the Thrifty Sydney 500.
Stewart, 20, will compete in his second year of Super2 after finishing fifth in the 2024 championship at the finale held at the VAILO Adelaide 500 in December.
It will kick off an exciting year for the young gun who will co-drive for Erebus Motorsport in the Repco Supercars PIRTEK Enduro Cup season in September and October.
Stewart said he was looking forward to a fresh start this season to prove himself as a contender for this year’s championship.
“Last year was a bit up and down, we had showed some good results but also we had some not so good rounds through the middle of the season,” Stewart said.
“It is good to be coming in with the same group of people and we know that we can win races, so we will just put our head down and get going and try and do the best we can.
“That will be the goal – if I can try and get as close to winning every race as I can and just try and get consistently high points which will help for the championship in the long run.
“If I start out at round one trying to win races, the championship points will add up as we go through.
“It is a weird thing to say that I am probably one of the older guys in the field now compared to a couple of years ago when I was just starting out, but it will definitely help with a bit of confidence.”
Stewart had a test day earlier this month at Winton Motor Raceway in preparation for this weekend.
“We just kind of put in what our baselines are and did a few little things that we might have changed that we are thinking about doing this weekend for Sydney; we tried them at the Winton test day just to see what they did to the car so that gave us a bit of insight for this weekend,” he said.
“It was very hot which kind of sucked because when the track is hot it just makes it go slower and ruins your tyres a bit, but it was pretty good in the morning, we got some valuable information.
“I tried a few little things here and there with the car setup and my driving and stuff, but it was mainly just about getting back into the seat.
“We have a pretty good set up for pretty much every track now that we have been to so far, so that’s good.
“I had not driven anything since Adelaide last year so I just had to get my brain back into racing mode.
“I think I am pretty well prepped – over the off season I have been doing a fair bit of work on myself, not racing stuff but physical stuff and a little bit of mental stuff as well.”
It will be a familiar sight for onlookers as Stewart will once again drive the #99 Holden ZB Commodore for Image Racing and the Erebus Academy.
“Because I am in the same car as last year we do not really have to do any new stuff with getting a seat fit or anything like that,” he said.
“I think when I jump in the car now it is kind of just a natural thing and I do not have to think about what I’m driving, or when I’m driving the car it is more just muscle memory and I can think more about the race scenario and things that we can change with the car to make it better.
“I can just jump straight in and it’s the same as what I have been driving for the past few rounds.
“We will just go into the first round not expecting too much, like obviously I will try and win races if I can but it is still a pretty fierce competition this year so it is a bit unknown going into the first round of the year.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into it this weekend. I am just excited to get into it and feeling pretty confident that we can do a good job.”
