D’Alberto’s 8000km Bathurst preparation

Shell V-Power Racing co-driver Tony D’Alberto is set to stray from plans to have a pre-Bathurst hub for Victorian co-drivers and instead complete an earlier quarantine period in the Northern Territory.

The alternate approach is designed at getting D’Alberto some extra time with his team before contesting the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 15-18.

It comes as Supercars CEO Sean Seamer last week announced plans to have about 20 Victorian-based personnel, including co-drivers, head into a NSW hub pre-event.

Speaking on his Parked Up podcast, D’Alberto confirmed he will take a different approach.

“It's awesome to get a little bit of clarity. I'm doing it a bit different to some of the other co-drivers,” said the 34-year-old, who will partner Fabian Coulthard for a fourth successive year.

“Supercars’ plan is to actually have the Victorians quarantine in NSW, I’m not exactly too sure where, but it was just prior to the Bathurst race and come out of quarantine basically the week of the event.

“DJR [Team Penske] wanted me to come to up to Brisbane to spend a bit of time with the team just prior to the race.

“I can't actually go from Victoria to Brisbane, they won't let me in… so they're sending me to Darwin.

"I'm going to Darwin to quarantine for two weeks in the sunshine. And then after that I'll head to Brisbane for a week and spend some time with the team, and then go on to Bathurst.”

In terms of road distance, Melbourne to Darwin to Brisbane to Sydney to Bathurst totals more than 8000km.

“It’s a little bit of a round trip of the country but whether you’re quarantining in Adelaide or Darwin or Sydney, it doesn’t really matter,” D’Alberto added.

"I think there's a little bit more freedom in Darwin, I think the place where I'm going to do it you can actually get outside a little bit more. Not just roam around, but I think there's an area you can get some fresh air and things like that.

"I'm looking forward to it, it finally feels a bit real. I'm excited about the event and now the preparation really does begin.”

DJRTP’s other co-driver Tim Slade has long been based on the Gold Coast.

D’Alberto, who stood alongside Coulthard on the Great Race podium in 2017, is expecting an interesting challenge tackling the Mountain with no prior race preparation.

“There’s no seat time leading into the Bathurst 1000. Nothing planned, not even a day in a go-kart, so that’s quite weird but we’re all in the same boat there,” he said.

“When I’m pulling gears down Conrod for the first time it will certainly feel fast.”

Prior to the Bathurst season finale, Tailem Bend will host a doubleheader – the first of which is the Repco SuperSprint this weekend.