Getting behind the wheel of a V8 supercar is something Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom has been doing for years, but voicing a character in a Pixar movie was like driving on unfamiliar terrain, according to the young Aussie.

Winterbottom, right, plays Frosty in Cars 2, which opens tomorrow, and says while initially excited, he was also somewhat nervous about starring in a big-budget computer-animated film.

Fortunately, in a case of art imitating life, Pixar's senior vice president of creative Rick Dempsey, was on hand to give the amiable racing driver instructions over the phone from the US. "I was so nervous I was about half an hour early to the sound studio in Melbourne but as soon as I put the headset on I was guided through everything," Winterbottom tells Access All Areas from his home in Melbourne.

"In fact it was like being in a racing car really which is what the movie's all about."

In Cars 2, which also features the voices of Owen Wilson, Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer, lead racing car Lightning McQueen's chance of winning the World Grand Prix comes under threat as his pal Mater is torn between assisting him and helping with a top-secret spy mission.

Winterbottom's character pops up only briefly in the film but the 30-year-old Ford Performance Racing Team driver says he could identify with McQueen's relationship with his rusty but loveable tow-truck pal.

"I have a Mater too, Campbell Little," Winterbottom explains. "He is my buddy and communicates to me during the race which is what Mater does to Lightning McQueen. So this film is very close to what we experience in supercar races."

Winterbottom took his sister and two nephews, aged seven and five, to the premiere in Sydney recently and earned instant brownie points with the kids who seemed more impressed he was "Frosty the character in Cars 2 than Uncle Mark the racing car driver".

His own son was too young to attend although Winterbottom says he's looking forward to showing 14 week old Oliver the DVD when he's older.