Chaz Mostert finished fastest in the first practice session at the Darwin Triple Crown on Friday as the Ford star remains coy about his Supercars future.
Mostert’s commitment to Tickford Racing, which gave him his start, is uncertain following a visit to rival and fellow Ford customer DJR Team Penske’s workshop.
The 27-year-old former Bathurst winner said his motivation was to win a championship and admitted he was “in a pickle” regarding his future.
Mostert is allowed to talk to other teams because he’s off-contract at the end of the season.
“For me, loyalty is a big thing in this game and Tickford gave me my start. I’ve got to give them the best opportunity to put their foot right,” Mostert said.
“‘They have shown in the past they have won championships, Bathurst, races, but I want to win a championship … and at the moment we’ve got to do a bit more at Tickford to do that.
“I really struggled looking ahead long term, I’m such a short-term person and this weekend is all about Darwin trying to move forward.
“Tickford have got some stuff in the pipeline which we’re hoping to roll out this weekend and fingers crossed that can edge us a bit closer to those Shell cars and keep Scotty (McLaughlin) pretty honest out there because he’s doing it pretty easy at the moment.”
Mostert is also looking at moving overseas to race in the Group GT3, but admits he’s torn because of “unfinished business” in Supercars.
“It’s kind of tough, there definitely is that international (option),” Mostert said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to race a bit of GT3 around the world now and you go to some awesome tracks. Laguna Seca I went to this year and that was just unbelievable, I’d only every played it on video games.
“To go tick those awesome tracks off and race these GT3 cars is something that appeals to me but I have a lot of unfinished business here in Supercars.
“I’m in a bit of a pickle with that at the moment. I’ve just got to work out what I’m going to do over the next couple of months.”
Pentrite’s David Reynolds and Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the podium in the opening practice session on Friday.
“These practices are hard to read until you know exactly where you are … we were struggling a bit out there but overall it wasn’t a bad hit out,” Mostert said.
“The same guys will still be the ones to beat, Reynolds is always super quick out here so we’ve got a bit of work to do.”
