Caleb Paterson will make his Aussie Racing Cars return at Queensland Raceway. Image: InSyde Media
Paterson will make his first Aussie Racing Cars start since the finale in Adelaide last season.
The Queenslander made the move full-time into GT4 competition this year after a single year in Aussie Racing Cars.
Having contested the 2025 season opener, car owner Kent Quinn elected to keep the young gun on for the year.
Round 4 in Sandown saw Paterson net the only overall round win by a rookie in series history, en route to fourth in the championship standings.
“I’m stoked to get back into their category,” Paterson told Speedcafe.
“They’re one of the best cars to drive, heaps of fun, nice and nimble, and with the new low aero package, they slide around a heap more.”
Paterson anticipates close racing at his home track, with its signature long front and back straights accentuating the slipstream effect of the pint-sized cars.
“The drafting and towing up onto the back of other people is going to be really cool at Queensland Raceway,” he added.
“I don’t think you want to be the guy leading into turn three on the last lap, because I don’t think you’ll be the guy that crosses the chequered flag first, it always makes for good racing.”
Whether Paterson’s series return is only a single-round cameo remains to be seen, with the possibility of further events depending on this weekend’s results.
“We’re not sure if it’s just a one-off at the moment, we’re going to see how this weekend goes,” Paterson said.
“We could be back towards the end of the year and maybe next year, but we’ll just see what happens.
“We’ll see how Norganic Proteins feels about the weekend and then we can go from there.”
Last season was a standout year in Paterson’s short racing career, only finishing outside the top 10 in round points at the season opener.
The last time Paterson raced at Queensland Raceway in a national series, he and co-driver Scott Green won their class in GT4 Australia in June.
Coupled with last year’s Aussie Racing Cars success, expectations for the event are high.
“I’m a race car driver, I expect myself to win,” Paterson said.
“The team does too, and we’ve proven we can do it before.
‘We’ll just have to see how the XJR [engine] lays up against the MT-09.
“I know personally in that field I can most definitely win, I think the real killer this weekend could be and will be the motor as we’re running an XJR and not the MT-09.”
The series recently launched a discounted engine program incentivising teams to make the switch to the newer MT-09 engine for next season, which trades horsepower output for lighter weight, better durability, and parts availability.
Series regulars Scott Andriske and Brandon Madden were tasked by the category to put both engines under substantial on-track parity testing at Queensland Raceway in April, with the category making its first visit to the venue since.
Aussie Racing Cars returns for Round 4 at Queensland Raceway this weekend, August 21-23, in support of the Ipswich Super440.