Vandoorne keen on future Bathurst 1000 drive

Brown has been proactive with facilitating drives outside of Formula 1 for his McLaren stars, most famously with Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Daytona outings for Fernando Alonso.

The next crossover deal for a McLaren driver in another series could take place at Mount Panorama, Brown admitting that Vandoorne has expressed interest in having a crack at the Bathurst 1000.

One complicating factor is the date, with Bathurst and the Japanese Grand Prix traditionally clashing at the end of the first week of October.

And while Brown will miss the Suzuka race for Bathurst this year, he's not set to make the same allowances for his drivers.

"When we did Daytona, I said 'do you want to do another race?' And he said 'yeah I want to do Bathurst'," said Brown.

"That was his race of choice.

"He was serious – but he can't miss Japan!"

Vandoorne added that he wouldn't contemplate trying to race at Bathurst at this crucial early stage of his grand prix career anyway, but that a trip to Mount Panorama in the future is not out of the question.

"It’s not something I’m specifically looking at. My focus remains 100 per cent F1 and the most important [thing] is to succeed in F1," he said. "This is my number one target.

"In the future we’ll see what opportunities arise and if it fits with our schedule, why not?

"I talk a lot with Zak because we’re all freaks about motorsport and everything that has four wheels on it. Bathurst is a very cool race, I had a few friends racing there as well, so we’ll see what the future holds."

Neither McLaren driver has sampled a Supercar before, although Alonso went close to driving the 2011 Bathurst 1000 winner in Spain last year, before the car ran out of fuel and the drive was called off.

Additional reporting by Scott Mitchell