Mount Gambier racing sensation Jobe Stewart will put the pedal to the metal this season as he switches lanes from the Dunlop Super3 Series to Super2 with Image Racing and Erebus Motorsport.


The young gun won the Dunlop Super3 Championship last year at the VAILO Adelaide 500 in November and will kick off his 2024 season on February 23 at Bathurst.


Stewart said he was “super excited” for the season ahead and glad to be staying with the same team he experienced success with last year.


“I was happy to see they kept some interest in me as well so it was kind of a mutual decision to move up to the next step in Super2,” he said.


“I am super looking forward to it and I could not picture myself doing it with any other team to be honest.


“I fit in into that environment and I enjoy it working with all the guys there.


“I think if I did not do as well last year I probably would look at doing Super3 again but having won the championship just puts me in the perfect spot to move up to the next step.”


This season will certainly be one to watch as Stewart will go head-to-head with fellow Mount Gambier racer and reigning Super2 champion Kai Allen for the 2024 title and hometown glory.


It will be reminiscent of the friendly rivalry shared by the two as they came up through go karts in their local circuit and competed against one another in the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series prior to supercars.


“Jobe has stepped up to Super2 so back like the go karting days at the Mount Gambier Go Kart Club racing Jobe again and excited to have a local boy alongside myself up on the big stage and share the spotlight with him again this year,” said Allen.


“To carry that through is pretty cool but also it sets a bit of a rivalry because we are both trying to make a name for ourselves and we obviously both want to beat each other,” Stewart said.


“It is pretty cool for both of us to win for the town too last year and then going into this year we are going to be competing against each other again,” Jobe said.


“If we are both at the front only one can come out on top obviously so we have to see how that pans out.


“We will still talk off the track but then once you go on the track, it’s every man for themselves and it does not matter who is in what car you just treat everybody the same in racing, you are just trying to pass as many cars as you can.”


The Erebus Motorsport driver said he will try to channel the speed and consistency of his victorious 2023 season.


“The plan going into the year is to win hopefully, if you do not want to win then you should not be racing,” he said.


“I will try and go as fast I can while still being somewhat careful.


“Maybe in the first couple of races I will go into it balls to the wall and just try and have the best results possible.


“Last year the Super2 and the Super3 were combined so I kind of got to race against those guys anyway so stepping up into the next one it will not really be much of a transition, just a little bit faster car so I should be further up the grid hopefully.


“Cam McLeod the guy I was racing pretty much all last year is stepping up too so we will be pretty close and keep that rivalry and then Kai as well from last year because he won it last year so he will be pretty fast.”


The Blue Lake young gun said he is eyeing a Repco Supercars seat in the future alongside one of his biggest supporters – his dad.


“My goal is to hopefully make a living out of it one day in the main game,” he said.


“That’s been my goal since I first started racing in go karts.


“Me and dad have been working hard at it pretty much since I was a kid so to finally make it would be pretty good for me and him and hopefully I can make a living out of it.


“He (dad) is a massive supporter, probably my biggest supporter.”