Supercars driver Slade to race entry-level Hyundai

The Brad Jones Racing driver will take over the car regularly raced by father Gil Slade in the one-make Hyundai series for this weekend's SA state championship round at The Bend.

The return to grassroots racing comes after the younger Slade's interest in the category was piqued during the recent Winton Supercars round, where a huge Excel field was part of the undercard.

“We went out to pitwall [at Winton] and I think there was something crazy like 45 or 50 cars," said Slade. "It’s pretty cool to see that many cars around a race track.

“Talking to dad after the race, he said ‘come for a skid’, so I worked out with them what race I could do.

"It has been a while since i’ve done any racing with dad. The last was probably Formula Ford in 2003. It should actually be quite good, I don’t think he’s left any stone unturned."

Despite being a Supercars race winner, Slade isn't expecting a return to the amateur ranks to be easy.

“The guys at the front of any category are really fast," he added. "I would never go into something and expect to win it. It is all about having a bit of fun."

Catering to lightly-modified Excels, the category is experienced a boom around Australia at the moment thanks to its low build and running costs, and seemingly endless availability of cars.