BATHURST ON EX-F1 STAR’S BUCKET LIST

Bathurst on Rubens Barrichello’s bucket list – Photo: Suttons

Former Ferrari F1 star Rubens Barrichello has the Bathurst 1000 on his bucket list as he prepares for his S5000 guest drive at Sandown next week.

By MARK FOGARTY

Barrichello will arrive next Tuesday ahead of his starring role in the opening round of the S5000 championship, which is headlining the Shannons Nationals meeting at the fast Melbourne circuit.

The 47-year-old Brazilian ace, who is still a front-runner in V8 stock cars in his homeland, revealed that racing at Bathurst was something he wanted to do before he finally retired.

“Oh, I would love to,” Barrichello said in a phone hook-up from his home in Sao Paulo. “I’ve always told one of my best friends, Max Wilson, who drove there for such a long time, that I would love to be at Bathurst and do that race with him or with somebody there.

“So that’s on my bucket list, yes.”

Wilson, a former Williams F1 test driver, raced with distinction in Supercars from 2002-07, driving for Briggs Motorsport, DJR, Triple Eight, Team Dynamik and WPS Racing.

He competes against Barrichello in the Stock Car Brasil series, which they have both won.

Barrichello won 11 races in a record 322-race F1 career from 1993-2011, highlighted by his six years at Ferrari as Michael Schumacher’s wing man.

He was runner-up to Schumacher in the 2002 and ’04 F1 world titles.

Rubens Barrichello last raced in Australia in 2011 – Photo: LAT

The last time he raced in Australia was in the 2011 Melbourne Grand Prix with Williams in his final F1 season.

Barrichello is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of a V8-powered open-wheeler at Sandown.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “I drove go-karts this week a lot because I obviously want to be prepared. The stock car is not physical – it’s just so hot – so for me it’s going to be a test in many respects.

“I haven’t raced an open-wheeler for seven years, so it’s obviously going to take some laps for me to get used to it.”

While he has studied up on the 550 horsepower Ford V8-powered S5000 spec racer, Barrichello admitted he knows little about the high-speed 3.1 km Sandown course.

“I read all about it and I’ve seen all the videos, and it looks fun to drive,” he said. “It’s probably more power than grip, but I think it’s a good school (for young drivers). That’s pretty much it.

“I’ve only seen Sandown on paper. I didn’t have time to be in the simulator, so the first time I will be in the car I will also be getting to know the track.”

The famously self-effacing ex-F1 star is not worried about putting his reputation on the line against ambitious Aussies in the racing debut of S5000.

“At age 47, winning races in stock cars like I’m doing, I can be happy with my performance within myself,” Barrichello said. “But life is about exceeding expectations and I’m very hard on myself on what I want to achieve, so I’m definitely not coming to Australia just for the sake of doing something.

“I want to do it well and I hope that Rubens at age 47 is still very competitive.

“I’m going there to be competitive, but honestly, I don’t know what to expect. So open-minded and, for sure, there are a lot of very talented young drivers who will be wanting to beat Rubens Barrichello.

“I’m just going there to have fun and give my very best. If that’s good enough for a win, I’ll be so happy.”

The September 20-22 Shannons meeting at Sandown will also feature the sixth round of the TCR Australia Series.

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