Having entered 2024 with no drive, Nathan Herne has worked hard to open doors to a big 2025 that could feature a long awaited Supercars debut and another crack at America.
On Tuesday Herne enjoyed a first drive of a Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro Supercar at a ride day with PremiAir at Queensland Raceway.
Following the “great” day where the “Lismore Bullet” spent just under two hours behind the wheel, the two-time Trans Am Australia champion is now in the frame for a long awaited Supercars debut.
Herne is being discussed as an option for a wildcard or co drive with PremiAir.
If that comes to fruition, it will be five years in the making after Herne’s Supercars dream debut with GRM at Bathurst in 2020 was controversially snatched from him due to the Superlicencesystem.
Herne said Supercars is just one of the options he is considering for 2025, which also includes a return to America having raced Trans am over there full time in 2023.
Nathan Herne inside the PremiAir Camaro with a guest at the ride day. Image: PremiAir
“That (Supercars debut) is the goal,” Herne told AUTO ACTION.
“I am still working on things in America too which could happen as well.
“I have always wanted to race Supercars and it is a good shot to do it now.
“There is still a lot of work to go and get it across the line.
“As I learnt in 2020 you can get to right before the event and it can all fall over. It won’t be real until I am sitting on the grid with the red lights on.
“I have three options (for 2025) I can go down and all three I am more than happy to do.
“Just need to wait and see how they pan out and hopefully have it all locked in coming weeks.”
The chance to drive a Gen3 Supercar for the first time was straight from Herne himself, continuing a 2024 theme where he has had to create off his own bat, including starting and winning with his own Trans Am privateer team, plus racing a Lamborghini at Spa and a school bus in America.
“After the Bathurst 1000 I called Peter (Xiberras),” Herne recalled.
“I was just sitting in the shed thinking ‘I need to do something because no one is going to drag me out of the mud’.
“He said ‘I will get back to you’ and we have kept contact.
“It is still very early days for this whole project.
“At the start of this year I was racing in America and had everything sorted but it all fell through at the last minute and did not have a drive.
“I was worried I would just be sitting on the sidelines so it has been a whirlwind year.
Nathan Herne celebrates victory at Queensland Raceway. Image: Insyde Media/Trans Am
“It has been a big year, but one I needed to give me a kick up the backside to realise it is not easy and make sure I am doing more than anyone else.
“Doing the privateer stuff set me up for a lot better opportunities.
“A lot of people have seen it for what it is and it is probably the best thing that has happened.
“Now I am in a lot better position coming into 2025 than I was 12 months ago.”
Despite having to right foot brake for the first time since 2019, Herne loved his time behind the wheel of the Camaro and was actually surprised by the similarities it shared with the Trans Am.
“It was great because I have always wanted to get up close and personal with one of them and it blew me away how similar they are in a few ways,” he recalled.
“Obviously the Australian Trans Am is a live axle rear end while a Supercar is transaxle.
“There is independent suspension on the Gen3 car but a lot of the base philosophies were the same between the two cars.
“There was more mechanical grip in the Supercar, but actually less aero which threw me into a spin to be honest.
“Through turns 1 and 2 they were a bit similar, but you could tell the Supercar was making its time through mechanical grip and the Trans Am was relying a bit more on the aero side of things to assist with it.
“It was a really nice car to drive and actually reminded me of the stuff I did on the dirt track in terms of having to keep the car loaded with the pedals.
“As soon as you were hesitant the car did not know what you were trying to do and understeered or oversteered or just flat slid off the racing line.
“It was a pretty cool experience because I had not driven a car like that.
“I really enjoyed the whole day. The team was unreal to work with and the engineer Andrew Gilliam was fantastic to talk to while running through everything.”
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