Zukanovic steps into ex-Paul Morris VE
Janson was a winner in last year's Fujitsu Series
Marcus Zukanovic will step into an ex-Paul Morris Motorsport VE Commodore for the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series.
Zukanovic’s family team, Action Racing, has struck a deal with James Rosenberg to lease the ‘Janson’ chassis from the South Australian for 12 months.
Named in honour of Bathurst 1000 folk hero ‘Captain’ Peter Janson, the car spent two years in the Championship Series in the hands of Paul Morris and Tim Slade, before Jack Perkins completed two rounds of the Fujitsu Series with it in 2010.
“It was time to update, and the option of getting Janson was a pretty good opportunity,” Zukanovic told Speedcafe.com.au.
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“It’s the sister-car to the ‘Love Machine’, and that’s a good car on its own.
“Jack raced it a couple of times last year and managed to win a race with it, so it’s not a bad car.”
Zukanovic tested the ‘Love Machine’ in 2010, and says he noticed the improvements over his ex-Walkinshaw Performance VZ straight away.
“It was pretty good – it’s got all of the positive VE attributes that you’d expect,” he said of the test.
“It’s got better aero, it rides better, it’s got better geometry through the front-end – they’re a little bit easier to drive than the VZ.
“Hopefully those subtle differences will see an improvement for us this year.
“If I’m around the top five, I’ll be happy with that. There are some big names rumoured to be floating around in the field.
“A top 10 in a quality field is a decent result, but this year I think, having had a year back from my accident, we can be pushing the top five.”
The former V8 Ute and Commodore Cup champion is also keen to contest this year’s V8 Supercars Championship endurance races at Phillip Island and Bathurst.
Having made a positive main-game debut with Greg Murphy Racing last year, Zukanovic says that running his own car isn’t an option.
“I’m looking to drive for a team, like we did last year, rather than try and run our own,” he said.
“We don’t have the infrastructure, all the guns and bottles and fuelling rig you need to do pitstops, so it’s not really viable for us to do it ourselves.”
The 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series kicks off on the streets of Adelaide from March 17-20.