Evans calls for home crowd advantage to rediscover early form

Jaxon Evans is aiming to reinvigorate his 2025 Repco Supercars Championship campaign on home turf at the ITM Taupō Super 440 next weekend following a disappointing event at the Australian Grand Prix.

The SCT Logistics Camaro was one of the quiet achievers at the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park in February, running on the fringe of the top 10 and leaving the weekend 13th in points.

With cracking the top 10 in the standings becoming all the more important with the introduction of Finals for 2025, it was a highly encouraging start for the 29-year-old Kiwi, however Albert Park was a struggle for Evans.

Three finishes of 18th have seen the 2020 Carrera Cup France champion slip back to 18th in the standings, 89 points behind Nick Percat and BJR teammate Andre Heimgartner, who are level on points in 10th and 11th.

"It's been a little bit of a struggle, obviously we hit the ground running at the first round in Sydney, so it was a positive step to leave the first round 13th in the championship," said Evans, who is eager to regain the speed he showed in Sydney.

"Grand Prix was a bit of a tough one for the team as a whole, but I feel a lot more comfortable and ready for what's to come."

The Repco Supercars Championship's return to Taupō shapes as a big opportunity for Evans to bounce back into Finals contention, with both the former Porsche star and BJR strong at the North Island circuit last year.

Heimgartner claimed a popular and emotional victory in a wet affair on Saturday last year, carrying the legacy of the late Jason Richards in the #8 BJR entry, though fell short of claiming the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.

Evans also starred in the rain, charging from 17th on the grid to claim his first career top 10 finish in Supercars, before backing it up with a 14th on Sunday.

With form at Taupō, and the backing of a home crowd, Evans is excited to return to New Zealand with a full season under his belt, and put on a show for New Zealand's passionate Supercars fans.

"It's a very special feeling, it's obviously nice to have that experience overseas racing different cars all over the world, but to be back in New Zealand in a Supercar, the Kiwi fans are super passionate about V8s, and it's a great show so it's really nice to have that home crowd advantage," he said.

"They showed up last year for the first event at Taupō, the weather didn't really show up for us, but the fans certainly did and they were lined up sitting in the seats nice and early even though it was pouring rain.

"It's awesome to see that support, and they don't just support one Kiwi driver it seems, they want to get behind everyone, so it's a pretty cool feeling."

Evans has also placed big expectations for the remainder of his sophomore season, with regular appearances in the top 10 a big goal, with Jack Smith set to return to Supercars as Evans' Enduro Cup co-driver.

"I'm looking forward to the remainder of the season to come, I'm obviously very excited to hopefully try and secure some good results," Evans added.

"I obviously want to go out and win races or get trophies, we're taking baby steps at the moment but I'm confident that we can be consistently inside the top 10, and hopefully grab a trophy or two by the end of the year."