BRYCE FULLWOOD: THE COMEBACK KID

Bryce Fullwood – The Comeback Kid – Photo: Supplied

Last year seems like a mere hiccup in Bryce Fullwood’s burgeoning career. HEATH McALPINE chatted to the easy-going Territorian who won the Super2 Series and is eyeing a Supercars ride for 2020. All this at just 21.

A 21-YEAR-OLD veteran? Really? Some consider Bryce Fullwood just that, because he is now contesting his fifth season of Super2.

The Darwin native has had plenty of ups and downs over the course of those seasons, but he is now headed in the right direction since linking back up with MW Motorsport.

“It’s almost like I’d never left, which is exactly how I wanted it,” Fullwood told Auto Action.

“I’m very lucky to be back with Matt White and it’s all going well. I’m in the exact same chassis that I used in 2017 and working with the same engineer.

“I’ve pretty much slotted straight back in.”

After beginning to find his feet in the MW Motorsport Nissan Altima at the end of 2017, leading to two podiums and a mountain of momentum into 2018, a move to Matt Stone Racing appeared promising.

The team had just come off winning the Super2 crown and had also taken delivery of two ex-DJR Team Penske Ford Falcon FGXs, one of which was to be driven by Fullwood.

Bryce Fullwood currently leads the 2019 Super2 title after a disappointing campaign last year – Photo: InSyde Media

However, the season was a disaster as the team failed to get the Falcon FGXs to work and then Supercars main game driver Todd Hazelwood took the helm of the reigning Super2 winning Holden Commodore chassis.

Despite it being a tough season, Fullwood took away a different attitude and realised the importance of maintaining confidence.

“You’ve got to be able to back yourself, you don’t have to tell people how good you are and be cocky,” said Fullwood.

“One of the most important things in what I do is to set realistic goals. Last year I didn’t expect to go out there and win because I didn’t have the package around me.

“I knew – and most drivers do – when you’ve completed a qualifying lap and you’ve squeezed every ounce out of the car, you absolutely know it. You absolutely know when you’ve done a good job or not.

“Luckily for me, if I’ve got the package around me and I do a lap that I’m happy with, nine times out of 10 there’s a result out of it. I got out of the car a few times last year and was happy, and the team came back and said ‘Well done mate, you’re P13’ and it’s like ‘far out’. In saying that, I knew I had done a good job and I felt you could have put anyone in that race car and they weren’t going to go faster.

“I never dropped my bottom lip, I just pressed on. If I qualified 14th and finished 10th I’d pat myself on the back because I was happy with that. I believed in myself, I believed in what I had done to get there and believed I was good enough to be there.”

Fullwood has plenty of strong support behind him from the Darwin community – Photo: InSyde Media

Fullwood comes from a close-knit family. His mum Kelly was the first one to hug after he took victory at Townsville, while his grandma sells raffle tickets for meat platters at the ocal pub, raising a staggering $20,000 towards Fullwood’s campaign last year.

“Anybody that is doing what we’re doing, being involved in Supercars or racing in general, it’s a big, big team effort from my family. I’m on the podium but I’m a by-product of my whole family, a lot of good friends, sponsors and everyone that has helped me get there. My family have made sacrifices to get me up on that podium.”

Fullwood has plenty of strong support behind him from his family also helped when the decision was made to go straight from karting to Super2 in 2015,
which was brought about by the Formula Ford and Formula 4 split.

A renowned Supercars team manager encouraged the family to skip the normal pathway and pursue the Super2 route, a decision that has been vindicated in recent time.

“The competition had split between Formula 4 and Formula Ford, but Tickford Racing’s Tim Edwards advised to go straight into Super2, so that’s we did,” Fullwood recounted.

“I don’t think there’s anything I don’t know now because I haven’t raced Formula Ford, but in saying that the one benefit to racing something like that is all your learning is done off camera. It’s inevitable that while you’re learning you crash, just like you can’t learn to water ski without falling off. It works with a race car; you can’t learn without exceeding the limit.

“If I had my time again, I would have done something like Toyota 86s, but that wasn’t around when I was coming through.”

Although it is an unorthodox pathway, it hasn’t harmed his development as this year he has taken four wins from seven races and has failed to finish on the podium only the once.

These performances have not only been noticed among the Super2 ranks but also within the Supercars paddock, where Fullwood will strap in for another Pirtek Enduro Cup campaign this time with arguably the fastest of the Nissans on the grid.

“I’m really excited to be joining Andre [Heimgartner] for the enduros because he’s been going really well,” enthused Fullwood.

“He’s been almost flying the flag for Nissan this season. I’m really excited to learn from Andre and the team at Kelly Racing, because the squad have been a part of Supercars for a long time. I’m very interested to see how they do things as well as take something away to aid with my Super2 season.”

The last two Pirtek Enduro Cup campaigns have given Fullwood a taste of what he hopes will be his future, as he eyes the next step, something that he feels is a real possibility next year if his strong form in Super2 continues ahead of a big off-season shuffle.

“The goal is for me to get to Supercars, that’s what the whole mission has been for me. It is a good time, this is a very, very silly season,” Fullwood surmised.

“I don’t know how it will all play out. The only thing I have control over is my performance in Super2 and hopefully that might give me an opportunity.

“I’d definitely like to be on the Supercars grid in 2020.”

Article originally published in Issue 1766 of Auto Action.

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