Fraser swaps Camaro for Excel

PremiAir Racing Supercars driver Declan Fraser will swap his Chevrolet Camaro for a budget-built Hyundai Excel racer this weekend when he joins team owner Peter Xiberras for the Great Sandown Showdown.

Fresh from competing at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440, Fraser will head to Sandown International Raceway for the budget endurance event, which will offer a dramatic contrast to the highly professional world of the Supercars Championship.

Fraser and Xiberras will be joined by Xiberras’ son Christopher and Trans Am driver Elliot Barbour, with the four drivers sharing a single car and rotating through driving stints.

Rather than outright speed, the Great Sandown Showdown places an emphasis on reliability, teamwork and traffic management, with simply keeping the car circulating among the keys to success.

Motor Events Racing is designed around affordable grassroots competition, with eligible cars generally valued below $5000 and modifications controlled through a points system. Cars compete in power-based brackets and events operate under a strict no-contact driving code.

For Fraser, the weekend provides an opportunity to experience a very different form of motorsport before returning to his Supercars commitments.

“I’m excited to be teaming up with Pete, Chris and Elliot; it’s going to be a great weekend and a lot of fun before heading to QR next weekend,” Fraser said.

“The first thing we need to focus on is making it through the long weekend. Looking after the car and managing traffic will be important, especially with different classes out on track. Hopefully we can come away from the weekend with a trophy!”

Xiberras said the event offered a chance to step away from the intensity of top-level Supercars competition and return to racing’s grassroots.

“This is one of those events that takes racing back to basics. We will have one car, four drivers and one goal: to keep it running and complete as many laps as we can,” Xiberras said.

“Declan is obviously used to racing at the highest level in Supercars, while Elliot showed at Winton that he certainly knows how to get on with the job when someone hands him the keys.”

Barbour’s Winton appearance came aboard Xiberras’ ex-Graeme Crosby Bob Jane T-Marts Group A VK Commodore. Starting from pit lane on a damp circuit, he worked his way through the field to run as high as third.

This weekend, however, Fraser and his teammates face an altogether different challenge: keeping a low-cost racer alive around one of Australian motorsport’s most famous circuits.