Zak Best Explained

Zak Best (born 11 October 2001)^[1] is an Australian racing car driver. He currently competes in the Dunlop Super2 Series in the No. 17 Ford Mustang GT, with wins, podiums and poles to his name in the Super2 Series.^[2] He also raced in the 2021 Bathurst 1000, finishing in fifteenth.

Career

Early career

Best made his debut in the V8 Touring Car Series (now known as the Super3 Series) in 2018, finishing second in the opening round at Phillip Island behind defending champion Jack Smith and ahead of MW Motorsport teammate Tyler Everingham.^[3] Best would finish the season in second place behind Everingham.^[4]

Despite hopes to join the Super2 Series in 2019, Best continued in the Super3 series. Despite winning several races Best was only fourth in the series, which team owner Matthew White blamed on engine issues at the Winton round.^[5]

Super2

For 2020, Best moved up to the Super2 Series, still driving for MW Motorsport. He qualified in third place on debut at the Adelaide Parklands Circuit, and achieved a best finish of fifth place in the final round at Bathurst.^[6]

Best switched to Tickford Racing for 2021, finishing the series in second place behind Broc Feeney.^[7] He remained with Tickford for the 2022 series.^[8] He finished runner up again in his 2022 campaign.

Best announced for his 2023 Super2 campaign that he would be making the switch to Anderson Motorsport driving an ex-Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang GT. He will join Tickford Racing for the endurance events. ^[9]

Supercars

Best made his Supercars Championship and Bathurst 1000 debut in 2021 driving with his Super2 team Tickford Racing. He partnered regular driver Jack Le Brocq in his Ford Mustang GT for the 2021 Bathurst 1000. He was given a late call-up due to Alexandre Prémat being unable to make the trip to Australia. The pair qualified in eighth place were only able to finish in fifteenth place, in part due to double stacking in the pits. Best was described by team principal Tim Edwards as being one of the best co-drivers in that year's race.

For 2022 Tickford announced that they would enter Best in Supercars rounds at Hidden Valley and The Bend as a wildcard.^[10] In Sunday qualifying, Best crashed, forcing him to start from the back on the grid in the final two races. In the second of these, Best was involved in a collision with Gary Jacobson, causing Best to retire, with Best highly critical of the driving standards of the drivers towards the rear of the field.^[11]

On July 30 2022, Best became the youngest and first Supercars Championship wildcard entrant to claim a pole position, which was done at the 2022 The Bend SuperSprint. Best finished race 21 5th, becoming the highest finishing placed wildcard entrant.

Career results

Aussie Racing Cars 2016 at age 14, Best was the youngest ever to compete and win a race (Phillip Island) and runner up Rookie, in an Aussie Racing Car.CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship 2017 finished 10th. Khumo V8 Supercars 2018, drove Ford FG with MW Motorsport finished Runner Up. Khumo Tyres Super3 2019, drove Ford FG with MW Motorsport finished 4th

Complete Australian Formula 4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Super2 Series results

(key) (Race results only)

Super2 Series results
Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Position	Points
2020	MW Motorsport	Nissan Altima L33	style=background:#dfffdf	ADE	style=background:#dfffdf	ADE	style=background:#dfffdf	ADE	style=background:#dfffdf	SYD	style=background:#dfffdf	SYD	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT						6th	549
2021	Tickford Racing	Ford FG X Falcon	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT	style=background:#dfdfdf	BAT	style=background:#dfffdf	TOW1	style=background:#dfffdf	TOW1	style=background:#ffdf9f	TOW2	style=background:#ffffbf	TOW2	style=background:#dfffdf	SMP	style=background:#ffffff	SMP	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT			style=background:#dfdfdf	2nd	style=background:#dfdfdf	1077
2022	Tickford Racing	Ford FG X Falcon	style=background:#dfdfdf	SMP	style=background:#ffffbf	SMP	style=background:#efcfff	WAN	style=background:#dfffdf	WAN	style=background:#dfdfdf	TOW	style=background:#dfffdf	TOW	style=background:#dfdfdf	SAN	style=background:#ffdf9f	SAN	style=background:#ffffbf	BAT	style=background:#ffffff	BAT	style=background:#dfffdf	ADE	style=background:#ffdf9f	ADE	style=background:#dfdfdf	2nd	style=background:#dfdfdf	1257
2023	Anderson Motorsport	Ford Mustang GT	style=background:#ffdf9f	NEW	style=background:#ffffbf	NEW	style=background:#ffdf9f	WAN	style=background:#dfffdf	WAN	style=background:#dfffdf	TOW	style=background:#ffffbf	TOW	style=background:#dfdfdf	SAN	style=background:#dfffdf	SAN	style=background:#dfdfdf	BAT	style=background:#dfdfdf	BAT	style=background:#dfffdf	ADE	style=background:#dfdfdf	ADE	style=background:#dfdfdf	2nd	style=background:#dfdfdf	1431

Supercars Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Supercars results
Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	Position	Points
2021	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang GT	BAT1 R1	BAT1 R2	SAN R3	SAN R4	SAN R5	SYM R6	SYM R7	SYM R8	BEN R9	BEN R10	BEN R11	HID R12	HID R13	HID R14	TOW1 R15	TOW1 R16	TOW2 R17	TOW2 R18	TOW2 R19	SMP1 R20	SMP1 R21	SMP1 R22	SMP2 R23	SMP2 R24	SMP2 R25	SMP3 R26	SMP3 R27	SMP3 R28	SMP4 R29	SMP4 R30	BAT2 R31				39th	120
2022	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang GT	SMP R1	SMP R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	SYM R5	MEL R6	MEL R7	MEL R8	MEL R9							HID R16	HID R17	HID R18			BEN R21	BEN R22	BEN R23	SAN R24	SAN R25	SAN R26	PUK R27	PUK R28	PUK R29	BAT R30	SUR R31	SUR R32	ADE R33	ADE R34	39th	162
2023	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang GT	NEW R1	NEW R2	MEL R3	MEL R4	MEL R5	MEL R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	SYM R10	SYM R11	SYM R12	HID R13	HID R14	HID R15	TOW R16	TOW R17		SMP R19	BEN R20	BEN R21	BEN R22	style=background:#dfffdf	SAN R23	style=background:#dfffdf	BAT R24	SUR R25	SUR R26	ADE R27	ADE R28							32nd	342

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Car	Co-driver	Position	Laps
2021	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang S550	Jack Le Brocq	15th	161
2022	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang S550	Thomas Randle	DNF	0
2023	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang S650	James Courtney	6th	161

Notes and References

1. Web site: Zak Best . Supercars . 27 July 2022.
2. News: Best edges Everingham in thrilling qualifying. Pavey. James. 9 July 2022. 10 July 2022.
3. Web site: Benalla's Zak Best shines at Winton . Triple M . 27 July 2022 . 26 April 2018.
4. Web site: Williams . Bruce . Best looking to Super2 in 2020 . Auto Action . 27 July 2022 . 29 May 2019.
5. Web site: Herrero . Daniel . Best moves up to Super2 with MW Motorsport . Speedcafe . 27 July 2022 . 17 January 2020.
6. Web site: Williams . Bruce . Tickford Recruit Best . Auto Action . 27 July 2022 . 14 December 2020.
7. Web site: Chapman . Simon . Best satisfied with Bathurst 1000 debut . Speedcafe . 13 December 2021 . 27 July 2022.
8. Web site: McCarthy . Dan . Best re-signs with Tickford . Auto Action . 27 July 2022 . 15 February 2022.
9. Web site: Pavey . James. Best reveals 2023 Super2 plans. Supercars . 16 February 2023. 13 February 2023.
10. Web site: Jackson . Ed . Rookie gets wildcard run in Supercars . 7 News . 27 July 2022 . 22 April 2022.
11. Web site: McCarthy . Dan . Best critical of rear of grid driving . Auto Action . 27 July 2022 . 19 June 2022.