Former world touring car champion Rob Huff wants to race V8 Supercars.
And the 34-year old Englishman doesn’t just mean in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 or the Pirtek Enduro Cup. He’s talking about shifting down under and taking on the entire Championship full-time.
Huff, who won the WTCC in 2012 driving a factory Chevrolet Cruze, is conscious of the potential issues that face him in V8 Supercars, acknowledging Alex Premat’s unsuccessful two year stint at Garry Rogers Motorsport, his successor Robert Dahlgren’s struggles and the failure of many internationals to come to grips with the category.
But he is confident that with the right car and team he can do the business.
“I think I would adapt,” Huff told v8supercars.com.au. “I don’t want to come across as arrogant or anything but I have been very lucky all the way through my career that I have jumped in everything and anything and we have always done well.
“I understand they are quite strange things to drive, but at the end of the day it’s got four wheels, it’s got an engine, it’s got brakes. If you can adapt then you can adapt.”
While primarily known for racing front-wheel drive touring cars in the WTCC and the British Touring Car Championship, Huff has a wide and deep CV that extends through historics, sports cars and endurance racing.
Huff has shown off his talent racing in Australia at Mount Panorama in an Audi R8, while he and manager David Madgwick have also made contact with several V8 Supercars teams about gaining enduro drives.
There were discussions with both Tony D’Alberto Racing and Brad Jones Racing in 2013, but in 2014 Huff’s commitments to race for the factory Lukoil Lada team in the WTCC means he couldn’t do the 2014 Pirtek Enduro Cup.
However, Huff has confirmed he will visit Australia again in 2015 and renew the search for an enduro drive, which he hopes will then lead to an opportunity to race here full-time.
“They are just my kind of car, stonking great engines, not a lot of grip and proper close racing. That’s what I love,” he enthused.
“I have always said if I could get a full time drive out there I would go,” Huff added. “If I could get a full time drive I know I would do a good job.
“I love Australia, I have mates out there who moved from my home town in the UK and it’s something I would quite happily do.”
Huff said seat time would be vital to getting a proper handle on the cars and doing a good job.
“I think when the European guys go out for the three enduros they get very little time in the cars because the emphasis is around the main driver, which is understandable,” he said. “It is something you need to build up to, you need the experience.
“If we get a foot in the door then I think we can do a good job. And I think we can build on it.”
Huff will get some indication of how competitive he would be in a V8 Supercar by gauging the performance of compatriot Oliver Gavin, who he has raced against for years, is also managed by Madgwick and co-drives the HHA Holden Commodore in the Pirtek Enduro Cup with Nick Percat.
“It will be interesting to see how Olly goes because we know how we run against him.”
Huff said experience in other categories has also left him with a love for the Mount Panorama circuit.
“Awesome, absolutely awesome,” he said. “The only place I have driven that comes close to it is Macau. That’s a pretty crazy street circuit and I have six wins around there in 10 starts. I just love street circuits.
“So Bathurst came quite naturally to me, I felt comfortable there straight away; skimming wing mirrors on concrete walls and I just love the fact there’s no room for error.
“The up and down, it’s just an awesome track. The fact you have then got the sweeper (Chase) in there as well, 280-290 kay corners, and trying to stop the thing in time for the left-right… it’s just a circuit that suits me.”
