Danish race car driver Allan Simonsen has jetted back into Australia and tested the Castrol EDGE Commodore he will share with four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy in next week’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Prior commitments to race sports cars in Europe kept the experienced international from competing in the traditional warm-up to Bathurst, the Phillip Island 500 last month.

Simonsen spent the early part of Wednesday’s test day at Queensland Raceway reacquainting himself with the Holden cockpit and once comfortable set competitive lap times.

“It’s been a while since I have driven a V8 Supercar, so to get some laps in the Castrol EDGE Commodore prior to heading to Bathurst early next week has been a blessing,” Simonsen said.

“I’ve been busy this year with the Team Farnbacher Ferrari in the Le Mans series, another Ferrari in the British GT Championship and also in the German VLN Series.

“Almost every race I’ve done this year has been 1000km or more so I am used to these longer distance races where you must keep your concentration levels up for a very long time. That should hold me in good stead for the mountain.”

Simonsen, who landed in Australia Monday, has been a Bathurst regular since 2003 and finished fifth with UK international James Thompson two years ago, the pair fighting with the leading group for a podium finish late in the race.

While he had not sat in a V8 Supercar in 2010, Simonsen has already raced at Mt Panorama this year.

“I raced a production car in the 12 Hour race in February – the car was new and under-developed, but we managed to complete the race and earn the class win,” he said.

“Bathurst is one of the greatest tracks in the world, so I am excited to be back in Australia and teaming up with a guy the calibre of Greg Murphy – it’s always a tough race, but we’ll see if we can each come away from the mountain with another trophy.”

Practice for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 kicks off at Mt Panorama next Thursday, 7 October.