Mark Winterbottom was relishing the beaming Northern Territory sun with a microphone in hand, looking forward to broadcasting the Darwin Triple Crown.
But in a flash, the 45-year-old was putting on a helmet, readying instead to light up Hidden Valley Raceway.
"At 1.00 pm, I was commentating. At 2.00pm, I drove out of the pit lane in Supercars, so it was all very last-minute," Winterbottom told AAP.
"I wanted to be comfortable, but I couldn't because I had to go and do a driver's briefing. It was really weird."
The 2015 champion was thrust into the Tickford Racing suit after Thomas Randle was declared unfit to race on Sunday.
It came after the 30-year-old's cool suit failed at the start of Saturday's 200km race, and he was seen for heat stress post-race.
