A V8 SUPERCAR testing session that turned into a shootout for the day’s quickest time has been watched by nearly 18,000 people today at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The stunning crowd of 17,600 – a record for any pre-season official V8 Supercar test day - braved intermittent showers this afternoon to watch Brad Jones Racing duo Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard complete a one-two sweep of today’s running and topple the circuit practice in the process.
A highlight of the day was a packed start-finish straight as thousands of fans had a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with their favourite drivers or cars during the lunch break – but the on-track action was just as scintillating.
This afternoon’s session resembled the last 10 minutes of a qualifying session rather than a test day.
Driving his Team BOC Commodore, Bright topped today’s running with a 1m28.9655s lap that was comfortably underneath Craig Lowndes’ previous record of 1m29.2493s.
Coulthard, second, also dipped under the existing benchmark in his sister BJR entry, trailing Bright by just 0.0402s after more than six hours of total running today.
Intermittent rain showers made this afternoon’s session more of a challenge for teams and drivers, several teams only getting minimal running in between showers.
Today’s results will be a pleasing result for the hard-working Albury based team who were far from the first in getting their next-generation V8 Supercars to the circuit – their first car only getting its first shakedown early in January.
Holden’s dominated this afternoon’s running with David Reynolds and Mark Winterbottom making progress for the Factory Ford team, Pepsi Max Crew FPR, and cracking the Top 10.
As he did earlier in the day, Rick Kelly ended a promising day for Nissan Motorsport in fifth place driving his Jack Daniel’s Altima. Overall, today’s top-10 featured seven Holdens, two Fords and Kelly’s Nissan.
Regardless of today’s activities – be they testing race packages or going for outright speed - it remains clear that Triple Eight Racing will continue to be a force in V8 Supercars and may in fact have strengthened their arsenal this year.
A total of five cars built by the Queensland-based team filled the Top 10 overall, including both Red Bull Racing Australia entries piloted by Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport drivers Dean Fiore (4th) and South Australian rookie Scott Pye (6th) were highly impressive in their plain-white VF Holdens, whilst Jonathon Webb’s Tekno Autosport VF was 10th.
Shane van Gisbergen – inside the top 10 this morning on his first ‘official’ run in a Holden – ended the day 12th quickest overall.
German driver Maro Engel was the quickest of the Erebus Motorsport Mercedes AMG trio, finishing the day 14th in his #9 SP Tools Racing entry.
The impressive sportscar and GT ace had run well inside the Top-10 earlier in the afternoon sessions, before being shuffled down the order as the quick times came towards the end of the day.
Slade (20th) and Holdsworth (24th) only gained limited laps this afternoon with Engel doing the bulk of the running but proving he has what it takes to succeed in V8 Supercars.
Whilst several V8 teams will now concentrate on preparations for the Clipsal 500 Adelaide in two weeks, several have plans for private testing between now and the season opener.
25 cars of the 28 that will start the season opener ran today; Nissan Motorport electing to test Todd Kelly and Michael Caruso next week in Victoria.
Dick Johnson Racing is yet to confirm a second driver though it is understood the team has their selection down to three candidates.
The Clipsal 500 Adelaide will be held between February 28-March 3rd.
Click here to see the full, combined times from today's official pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Click here to see the full, combined times from today's official pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park.
