S.Richards quickest in 1st test at Winton

FPRXR-6 · 13 Mar 2006, 05:06 (Ref:1545717)

From www.v8supercar.com.au

Richards duo early quickest in major Winton V8 test

Rain hasn’t dampened the spirits of Holden’s leading V8 Supercar teams as they hit the track for the first time in 2006 at Winton Motor Raceway today.

Taking part in an all-important, two-day pre-season test before the V8 championship begins proper in Adelaide next week, drivers were confronted by a rain-effected track in the early morning session with conditions improving as the day progressed.

Steven Richards set the early benchmark in his brand new Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore, recording a best time of 1m 24.93s for the three kilometre circuit to edge out namesake, Tasman Motorsport’s Jason Richards by four-tenths of a second.

“Our new Jack Daniel’s Commodore is great, we’ve ironed out all the new car blues straight away and it hasn’t missed a beat. Looking good today is ok, but we need to do it next week in Adelaide,” Steven Richards said.

“Conditions were a bit greasy early to show our full potential, so we ran through a set test program and it’s good to be on the pace at this early stage.”

Jason Richards said it was important to begin the year on a positive note.

“Our speed today has been a continuation of the momentum we had late last year. It’s nice to get back into the car after three months out of the seat and instantly be in amongst it,” Richards said.

Five time series champion Mark Skaife was another to debut a new car and quickly set the fourth fastest time for the factory Holden Racing Team.

“The new car is very impressive; for its first run it’s been very good, no vibrations or dramas. It has a really good feel about it and I am very happy with it,” Skaife said.

Dual Bathurst winner Rick Kelly was fifth quickest in his new-look Toll/HSV Dealer Team Commodore.

In his first drive for Supercheap Auto Racing, Cameron McConville set the sixth quickest lap around the tight and twisty rural circuit, the 32-year-old impressed with his new arrangements.

“It has been a difficult day with the rain hampering dry running time, but the car is very nice to drive and I’m still learning its and my new team’s limits and procedures,” McConville said.

Team-mate Greg Murphy, who endured a technical difficulty with his car, said the test was beneficial to all ahead of next week’s opening V8 round, his team having made the switch in test venues from Phillip Island.

“We planned on switching our test track to Winton anyhow, but it’s more of a benefit than Phillip Island heading into the opening round in Adelaide with its mix of tight corners and track variation,” Murphy said.

The test continues tomorrow, Tuesday, with the cars hitting the track for the first time in anger in Adelaide Friday week.

peckstar · 13 Mar 2006, 05:17 (Ref:1545720)

where are todd and Garth, must have been very slow not to get a mention or maybe they didnt have cars there?

Who was 3rd quickest, assume it was a Ford, Bright, Brad or Bowe?

Gasket · 13 Mar 2006, 06:22 (Ref:1545733)

Quote:

Originally Posted by peckstar

where are todd and Garth, must have been very slow not to get a mention or maybe they didnt have cars there?

Who was 3rd quickest, assume it was a Ford, Bright, Brad or Bowe?

The story goes Jason Richards 25.4- Mark Skaife 25.5 - Andrew Jones 25.6 (what a great effort from Andrew )

Pirtek_Falcon-1 · 13 Mar 2006, 07:21 (Ref:1545757)

Garth and Todd wouldnt be testing if the rumours about grouping were true. So did they test?

hrt_rulz01 · 13 Mar 2006, 07:51 (Ref:1545766)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirtek_Falcon-1

Garth and Todd wouldnt be testing if the rumours about grouping were true. So did they test?

it is true, HRT & HSVDT are grouped this year. and todd & garth can still test, todd just has to use skaife's car & tander has to use rick kelly's car.

peckstar · 13 Mar 2006, 07:55 (Ref:1545768)

in theory i guess they could all use skaifes car (or todds or garths or ricks)

hrt_rulz01 · 13 Mar 2006, 08:06 (Ref:1545775)

Quote:

Originally Posted by peckstar

in theory i guess they could all use skaifes car (or todds or garths or ricks)

not really. both teams have one car to use. they share a garage, thats it

peckstar · 13 Mar 2006, 08:17 (Ref:1545779)

not quite true Hrt

the teams are allowed to take two cars, it can be any of the two cars. in this case i imagine there would be some sort of commercial agreement between the teams to take one of each team.

in the fPR/Britek case its to take the FPR cars

peckstar · 13 Mar 2006, 08:39 (Ref:1545795)

so i looked at the rules and the rules say "Teams which form part of a multi car group will, in so far as is possible have equal access to the Test Days covered by the TEGA log."

Which is interesting in the case of britek.

in theory HRt could have two cars today and HSVDT 2 cars tomorrow. but they should have equal access

XW GT · 13 Mar 2006, 09:16 (Ref:1545836)

Another driver at Winton today was Tony Evangelou driving the ex Jason Bright CAT BA Falcon. Running the "Clipsal" diff ratio his times were very good compared to the other level one V8 Supercars present.
After last year's "Konica" incident at the chicane, Tony deserves a break and the pace his BA at Winton is looking promising.

F J Nedos · 13 Mar 2006, 09:18 (Ref:1545840)

Should we read all that much into test times? Who knows what programs they were running to.

Surely, final qualifying at Adelaide will give us a better idea of who is hot and who is not.

Still good to see holdens topping the timesheet though!

mayhem · 13 Mar 2006, 09:57 (Ref:1546950)

Skaife had 4 or 5 offs during the day, Brighty ran in the low to mid 1.25s.

dumbrell_fan · 13 Mar 2006, 10:21 (Ref:1546977)

anyword on how Dumbrell went in the ex-Richo car??

Pirtek_Falcon-1 · 13 Mar 2006, 10:38 (Ref:1546988)

Or Frosty?

So Brighty was fastest than most holden teams?

cavvy · 13 Mar 2006, 11:33 (Ref:1547026)

Quote:

Originally Posted by peckstar

where are todd and Garth, must have been very slow not to get a mention or maybe they didnt have cars there?

Celeb race Bahrain.

hrt_rulz01 · 13 Mar 2006, 19:53 (Ref:1547436)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cavvy

Celeb race Bahrain.

but they're supposed to be testing today

PVDA · 13 Mar 2006, 21:26 (Ref:1547518)

They showed some footage on the Ch10 News yesterday of McConville hitting the go pedal a little loud and spearing off the Sweeper and nearly taking out Flag Point 6

hrt_rulz01 · 14 Mar 2006, 04:21 (Ref:1547681)

any news from todays session?

Pirtek_Falcon-1 · 14 Mar 2006, 06:05 (Ref:1547703)

Greg Murphy Sets The Pace In V8 Test At Winton

Supercheap Auto Racing and Tasman Motorsport have topped the time sheets during the final day of the two-day V8 Supercar test session at Winton Motor Raceway.

Murphy set a blistering pace in his Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore, stopping the clock in 1m 23.6735s to edge out Tasman’s Jason Richards’ best time of 1m 24.3896s.

Murphy and Richards’ new team-mates, Cameron McConville and Andrew Jones, were third and fourth quickest in their new rides with 1m 24.6291s and 1m 24.7453s times respectively.

Four-time Bathurst winner Murphy, while happy with setting the pace, said he was keeping the result in perspective.

“It’s been a good day so far; we’ve made progress and my car is feeling quite balanced, but I’m not getting too carried away,” Murphy said.

“Everyone is trying different things at this test and [the V8 series’ first round] Adelaide is another day. We were able to run a set of [new] tyres on that lap and set a good time, but the real action starts next week.”

Bathurst winner Todd Kelly, fresh from an overnight flight from Bahrain where he took part in a celebrity race during Sunday night’s Grand Prix event, was fifth quickest in his Holden Racing Team Commodore, the 26-year-old clocking 1m 24.8076s.

Brad Jones was the best of the Fords in sixth, while Garth Tander, winner of the Bahrain celebrity race, was seventh overall in his Toll/HSV Dealer Team Commodore.

In stark contrast to yesterday’s rain-effected session, today’s warm, sunny conditions allowed teams to log a full day of testing.

The surprise performances came from V8 debutants Jack Perkins and Shane Price, who will contest the Fujitsu Development Series in a pair of Perkins Motorsport Commodores for Jack’s father, Bathurst legend Larry Perkins.

Price lapped the 3km rural Winton circuit in 1m 25.3s, with Perkins just four-tenths further back, much to the delight of his father.

“My first impression of the two boys is that they are ahead of schedule. As a team owner, I’m happy and, as a father, I’m quite proud,” Perkins Snr said.

“Both Shane and Jack show they have speed, but now they have to learn the hard bit, and that’s concentrating for an entire race. The next object is to get to Adelaide and survive and if they can do that, then we can consider it an extremely successful debut.”

The first rounds of the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series and the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series get underway at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide next week.
http://www.holdenmotorsport.com/

retro · 14 Mar 2006, 07:15 (Ref:1547721)

Interesting stuff there from the youngins.

BTW the teams are now allowed to purchase NEW Dunlops for use on test days and for practice on race weekends.

mayhem · 14 Mar 2006, 08:09 (Ref:1547746)

Both the Perkins young guys ran in un-signwritten black commys.

Lowndesfan6 · 14 Mar 2006, 08:37 (Ref:1547759)

Quote:

Originally Posted by retro

Interesting stuff there from the youngins.

BTW the teams are now allowed to purchase NEW Dunlops for use on test days and for practice on race weekends.

Murph mentioned at the Supercheap open day that AVESCO were giving every team 1 set of new tyres for the first test session.

retro · 14 Mar 2006, 08:55 (Ref:1547769)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowndesfan6

Murph mentioned at the Supercheap open day that AVESCO were giving every team 1 set of new tyres for the first test session.

No they are actually are allowed to BUY them from Dunlop. I suppose there is a fine line between buy and free in supercar land.

But it's a rule change for this year.

TSR · 14 Mar 2006, 09:49 (Ref:1547799)

Going by the reports is seems to be a Holden show at Winton. Were are the FORDS, BJ was sixth today but were was Brighty and FPR. What time did they do. Just by the Winton time it does not look good for the blue oval, but then again the QLD teams were not there.

retro · 14 Mar 2006, 09:53 (Ref:1547802)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSR

Going by the reports is seems to be a Holden show at Winton. Were are the FORDS, BJ was sixth today but were was Brighty and FPR. What time did they do. Just by the Winton time it does not look good for the blue oval, but then again the QLD teams were not there.

SBR and some of the others (I think) are doing a 2 dayer this week at the paperclip.

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