Tests a taster for full throttle
LET the games begin.
Ford star Chaz Mostert has warned Supercars fans not to read too much into today’s series-wide test day in Sydney, with plenty of cat and mouse on the cards.
With teams’ fuel loads and tyres unknown, the true pecking order for the early stages of the 2018 season won’t be clear until qualifying for Race 1 in Adelaide in a fortnight.
“Once you get to Adelaide I guess that’s when basically all of the foxing stops, all of the sandbagging stops, and everyone is on similar tyres for qualifying,” Mostert told The Bulletin. “I guess that gives you a form guide to where you’re at to start the year.
“Test day, I wouldn’t look at too heavily if I was giving a form guide.
“Someone is going to do a really hot lap at the end of the day on a good set of tyres and look like they are a real hot shot for the year but might possibly not be.”
Mostert said teams and drivers had to avoid the trap of looking over their shoulders during the busy schedule.
“You have just got to go there with your test plan and the stuff you want to test and clarify and the things you have been working on and just run your own thing,” he said.
For series champion Jamie Whincup and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, the focus will be getting up to speed on how the new ZB Commodore body shell compares with its VF predecessor.
“The car is going to go through the air so it will handle differently, so we’ll have to adjust the suspension to adjust to the slight change in the aerodynamics,” Whincup said.
“That’s (today’s) goal, to get that sorted as much as we can.
Whincup said a successful Sydney test was critical to starting his title defence on the front foot.
“History shows that with a new car it’s hard to hit the ground running because you are learning,” he said.
Supercars held its season launch in Sydney yesterday ahead of a blockbuster calendar that will feature night racing at Eastern Creek and the addition of a Tailem Bend event in South Australia.