The 29-year-old cut what were his first serious laps in a racing car since walking away from the sport off the back of a tough two seasons in Supercars at the end of 2019.

However he has since been lured back into the driver's seat with a sensational offer of a Bathurst 1000 wildcard, backed by Boost Mobile, alongside Greg Murphy.

As part of his preparations for the Great Race, Stanaway will take part in the a one-hour endurance race at Pukekohe this weekend in a NZ Touring Car-spec Camry.

The weekend started with a test session in the V8 Toyota today.

"It was good, I enjoyed it," Stanaway told Motorsport.com.

"It actually felt like I never stopped. I was a bit concerned that I had forgotten how to drive, but it was fine."

The NZ Touring Cars are effectively slightly de-tuned Supercars, Stanaway confident that the miles he'll bank over the weekend will be handy when it comes to the Bathurst campaign.

"The car is really similar," he said. "It was wet all day and it's the same wet tyre that's used in Supercars. I would have liked a bit of dry running, but some wet laps are handy too.

"I felt comfortable in the car and I enjoyed driving it. So it's all looking positive at the moment.

"We've got four practices and a qualifying tomorrow and then a one-hour race on Sunday, so there's plenty of seat time this weekend. It'll help a lot because it's actually a race, so it's better than a test day. But it's also a low-key event."

Stanaway will then get his first taste of the Erebus Motorsport Holden he'll share with Murphy at Bathurst next month, with the team planning a full three test days and a ride day before heading to Mount Panorama in October.

"We've got a rough plan in place," added Stanaway. "Our first test in next month, and we're planning on doing three if we can. We'll do a ride day at Sydney Motorsport Park as well.

"It should be a decent amount of seat time before Bathurst."