Evans on course for AGP after burnt foot recovery
Supercars
16 Mar
Jaxon Evans ready for Melbourne after grisly Bathurst injury
BJR rookie suffered burnt foot at Bathurst 500
Kiwi tested Ferrari at Perth's Wanneroo Raceway this week
Jaxon Evans has hit the track amid his road to a full recovery ahead of the upcoming round in Melbourne, after suffering a burnt foot in Bathurst.
The Brad Jones Racing rookie moved forward in both races at the Thrifty Bathurst 500, on a weekend BJR struggled in qualifying.
However, Evans suffered burns to his foot as Sunday’s race wore on, leading to a crash heading into The Dipper, and a visit to the onsite medical centre.
The New Zealander was classified as a finisher, but the injury left a sore mark on what was otherwise a solid first Supercars hit-out.
Evans has since undergone rehabilitation to prepare for next weekend's MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint, but couldn’t be kept out of a car for long.
The 27-year-old jetted off to Perth this week to test Arise Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 at Wanneroo Raceway, where he will race his #12 SCT Logistics Camaro in May.
There, Evans not only acquainted himself with the Perth circuit and his Ferrari, but also helped gain even more confidence in his recovery.
“My foot’s definitely better. I wouldn't say it's a hundred percent just yet, but I'm getting closer,” Evans told Supercars.com.
“The burn side of things is obviously healed and much better, but I did a fair bit of damage to the outside of the actual foot.
“Not that there's muscles or tendons there — it’s more of like a friction-type injury.
“But, I’ve been working hard with the rehab, and with my trainer and physio, and it’s on course to be sweet by the AGP.”
Evans will share the Ferrari with Elliott Schutte in this year’s GT World Challenge Australia campaign, with Chaz Mostert to race the team’s second 296 with Liam Talbot.
Along with the Ferrari laps, Evans has also been completing intensive simulation work as he continues to adapt to life in Supercars.
“I haven’t been to Perth before, so it’s kind of been a win-win,” the New Zealander said.
“I'm learning a new car, but I'm also learning the track for when we come back. We're there in two months, but any laps anywhere is valuable. It's a pretty unique track, and it's nice to learn it before I show up for the race.
“As for the Ferrari, I don't think you could get any further away from a Supercar driving this thing, but like I said, any laps are valuable.”
BJR has form at Albert Park, with Heimgartner scoring a podium in 2023, while Fullwood and Macauley Jones both scored top 10s.
No BJR driver qualified in the top 10 at Mount Panorama, but they demonstrated strong race pace. The quartet combined to make up 36 positions across the two races, highlighted by eight-position gains for Andre Heimgartner (Race 1) and Bryce Fullwood (Race 2).
Evans, who previously raced in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia at Albert Park, expects his team to bounce back immediately at a circuit he knows — and is suited to.
“It’s definitely no secret that qualifying was our downfall at Bathurst,” the former Porsche star admitted.
“The engineers and everyone in the team have collectively come together and have been trying to rectify that. It was pretty clear that the race car wasn't really an issue.
“But, turning the tyre on, or just extracting the performance out of it over one lap, was our issue. I have no doubt that we’ll improve in that regard at the Grand Prix.
“I know that track quite well — the flow and the style of it, it's a bit more what I'm used to. Not that it means I'm going to go out and perform 10 times better than another track, hopefully it’s got some bearing.
“I’m sure my foot will be alright. By then I'll probably stop complaining and blaming it, and just get stuck in.”
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint on March 21-24.
