Porsche ace in frame for Bathurst debut

Brad Jones Racing will hand Porsche ace Jaxon Evans seat time ahead of a possible Bathurst debut.

BJR has yet to confirm a co-driver alongside Jack Smith in the #4 SCT Logistics Commodore.

David Wall, who raced with Smith last year, has committed to his ongoing Carrera Cup programme.

Wall operates his own team, and is currently second in this year’s Carrera Cup standings.

It has opened the door for BJR to assess the market, with the team keen to give Evans track time.

The Kiwi will take part in a BJR evaluation day at Winton on September 19.

From there, BJR will make a call on Evans, although there is little doubt the rising star won’t be fast.

SCT’s Head of Motorsport Programmes Andrew Jones told Supercars.com.

Evans (L) and Campbell (R) are of the same mould

"Because he hasn’t had much Supercars seat time, there is an opportunity to do an evaluation day with Jaxon,” Jones told Supercars.com.

“He’s at the Nurburgring this weekend, we’ll be in New Zealand, and we’ll meet up in Australia next week.

“Jaxon is sharp, he’s keen to learn, he’s in the same vein as Matt Campbell.

“If you’re progressing through Porsche’s junior programme like that, you know what you’re doing.”

Evans moved to Europe as a Porsche Junior driver following his 2018 title.

He finished runner-up in last year's Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

Evans currently races for Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE class.

He previously turned laps in a Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore in 2018.

As the team worked on getting a co-driver, BJR handed the reins of Smith’s car to Craig Lowndes at Sandown.

Lowndes steered the SCT Logistics Commodore during the Additional Driver session.

Jones also paid tribute to Wall, who finished 17th alongside Smith last year.

It came after Wall was drafted in late on to replace Ash Walsh.

“There are deadlines for everything, our preference was to get Dave back in the car,” Jones said.

“He deserves a seat on the Bathurst grid; if you look at history, he’s always done a great job.

“He also runs his own cars out of Wall Racing, and that is the figurehead for his race team.

“We mutually agreed, and had some laughs along the way, that it wasn’t going to work this year.

“We had some contingency plans, and we’re excited to give Jaxon some seat time."

Smith's 2022 campaign will continue this weekend at Pukekohe.

Tickets for the Repco Bathurst 1000 are available on Supercars.com and Ticketek.

2022 Repco Bathurst 1000 entry list