WEBSTER RETURNS FOR SYDNEY S5000 ROUND

Teenage Victorian driver Cooper Webster will return to S5000 for the first round of the Tasman Series, racing for his new team Versa Motorsport at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMP).

Webster finished seventh in the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship earlier this year, achieving a breakthrough maiden race win at Phillip Island in March.

After a lengthy period of planning and preparation, Webster has confirmed he will make a one-off appearance in Sydney with his new outfit, making the switch from previous team 88 Racing.

“I’m racing this weekend at Sydney, not with 88 Racing but with a new team that we’ve started up called Versa Motorsport,” Webster told AUTO ACTION.

“It’s pretty exciting, it’s been a bit of a rush to get everything organised.

“We weren’t going to run in the Tasman Series because there’s a lot that goes into organising the trailer, the parts, the tools, the car and where we were going to store it.

“It’s been a massive effort just to get to this first Tasman round so I’m really excited to run at Sydney and see how we go as the new outfit.”

Versa will be predominately run as a family operation, with the Sydney Tasman Series opener serving as Webster’s preparation for another full season in the open wheelers in 2022.

“Versa is under Toby Pope who is the Team Manager and will be run with my family and friends,” Webster said.

“We weren’t going to do Sydney, but we changed our minds because we ran there last year and we’ve got a few upgrades that we want to try and test on the car.

“We’re just trying to focus on getting everything organised and professional for next year.

“That was the main reasoning behind it, it’ll be run more like a shakedown for the car to prepare to do S5000 properly next year.”

Cooper Webster returns for Sydney S5000 round – Image: InSyde Media

While the three-race stint may be part of a longer-term plan, Webster hopes that he will put in strong performances this weekend.

“I do really hope I’m going to be more competitive,” Webster said.

“I feel more confident than I was last year.

“88 Racing gave me so many opportunities last year, running with them was awesome. I learned a lot from that year, a lot about the car that we can take into this new team.

“We had a little run a couple of days ago at Winton in the car and that went really well, the hopes are high.”

Four S5000 races are scheduled to take place during the six-day Bathurst 1000 event between November 30 – December 5, completing the seven-race Tasman Series.

At this stage the team will not run at Mount Panorama in the second leg of the 2021 series, electing to focus their efforts on a single round.

“We probably won’t go to Bathurst, at the moment we’re not doing Bathurst,” Webster confirmed.

Webster will be at SMP tomorrow night for a pre-season test under lights, before competitive S5000 action kicks off on Friday.

“I’ll be there Thursday night. I’m really looking forward to the open pit line, which is going to be really cool,” Webster said.

Two S5000 races are scheduled for Saturday at 2:10pm AEDT and 5:25pm, respectively.

The final encounter will take place at 11:50am on Sunday.

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