Rising stars get pre-AGP rookie test days

Teams are getting their rising stars behind the wheel at rookie days ahead of the upcoming Melbourne SuperSprint.

Per Supercars rules, teams are allocated three rookie days per year, with Matt Stone Racing using one for Cameron Hill ahead of the Thrifty Bathurst 500.

It paid dividends for Hill, who recorded a career-best fifth in Race 1 at the Mount Panorama event last month.

Penrite Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Blanchard Racing Team have opted to run rookie days ahead of the March 21-24 event at Albert Park.

The Grove squad rolled Matt Payne out at Winton Motor Raceway on Tuesday, just over a week after the Ford team completed a mixed weekend in Bathurst.

Payne, last year’s Adelaide 500 winner, gets a rookie day at a good time after being outperformed by incoming teammate Richie Stanaway.

Stanaway left Bathurst fourth in the drivers’ points after scoring a P4 finish in Race 1, while Payne is eighth after finishing 10th and seventh.

WAU and BRT, meanwhile, will run rookie days for Ryan Wood and Aaron Love respectively at The Bend Motorsport Park next Tuesday.

Payne, Wood and Love will each get a chance to gain confidence ahead of the Melbourne round, which will be headlined by four 75-point sprint races without pit stops.

“It's probably not the result we would have liked to have had,” Payne told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast of his Bathurst round.

“But, all things considered, I qualified 13th both days. Yesterday was partly my fault, and today we just didn't have enough speed. Definitely made it hard for myself.

“The results we got in the races, I think, probably were the best we could have achieved. Would have liked to have been a bit quicker.

"Obviously, Walkinshaw is very fast at the moment, and so is Triple Eight. So, we need to do a lot more work."

Wood and Love, meanwhile, underwent baptisms of fire in Bathurst — Wood initially scored a Saturday Top 10 Shootout berth, before being penalised over a yellow flag infringement.

The young Kiwi started 14th and 11th for the races, but first-lap collisions consigned Wood to a double DNF. Love, meanwhile, hit the wall three times across the two races.

Brad Jones Racing rookie Jaxon Evans, who also endured a tricky first round. has yet to use any of his allocated days.