As preparations begin for the historic opening double-header Middle East rounds of the V8 Supercar championship, the Toll Holden Racing Team has been hard at work on the test tracks of Winton in stifling heat to prepare best for the tricky conditions expected to face the teams in the deserts of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Bathurst Champions Garth Tander and Will Davison completed around 100 laps each of the Winton Motor Raceway circuit in their stunning, new look Toll HRT Commodores in searing conditions, with ambient temperatures at the rural Victorian race track reaching over 36 deg C.
The test went without a hitch, Tander and Davison working through a set schedule to ready Australia’s most successful V8 Supercar team for a busy year as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
“We have only had a short off-season, but everyone on the team is well rested and it has been great to get back to the track and into the car,” Tander said.
“Conditions today have been difficult, it has been extremely hot, but we have worked through our program and had a trouble free run – everything has gone well.”
Davison said the test was about race car setups and car and crew familiarisation rather than ultimate lap times.
“We do a lot of laps around Winton, so a test like today’s is not about optimising our setup for here – it’s about trying new things, working through setups and getting ready for what’s going to be a big year,” Davison said.
“We’ve had a good run today and it only fires you up more for tomorrow’s test and then the first event in a few weeks time.”
Today’s session was the first in a back-to-back two day test for Toll HRT and its Walkinshaw Racing sister team, Bundaberg Red Racing.
The Walkinshaw teams are testing one week ahead of other Victorian teams due to the need for two Melbourne-based cars to be flown from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi for the season opener in two weeks time.
The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series kicks off with a double-header in the Middle East, the first event at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 18-20 February, followed one week later by the Desert 400 in Bahrain.
Davison, who visited the Yas Marina Circuit last week as part of a V8 Supercar promotional tour, described the facility as the “sensational, simply the best motor racing facility in the world!”