Red Bull gears up to tackle Penske
RED Bull Holden Racing Team boss Rolland Dane last night declared his team was ready to rise to the DJR/ Team Penske challenge after his team was struck down on the opening day of the Australian GP.
Speaking after Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard made it two for two for the Shell Fords, Dane spoke of the virgin heavyweight rivalry between Red Bull and Penske.
“I think we will rise to the challenge and it will make us a better team,’’ Dane said.
“We saw it in 2015 when Prodrive challenged us and went on to win the championship. We responded and won it last year. This year it looks like being Penske and that is a good thing. We are definitely up for the challenge.
“We are not as rich as Penske but hopefully it doesn’t come down to money. It will also come down to smarts.’’
Coulthard roared home to win the second instalment of the non- championship Supercars Challenge after his teammate McLaughlin pounced to win race one.
Red Bull were outgunned by the new force with Whincup swamped in race one after taking the lead and Shane Van Gisbergen crashing out of race two.
In a bitter end to the first day of the event, Van Gisbergen was punted from the track before being collected head- on by a faultless James Moffat.
In a spectacular start to the Supercars challenge, Nick Percat was left heavily winded during a high- speed crash in the first race with just two laps to go in the race when his brakes failed while travelling at 250km/ h.
He was still in shock shortly after the heavy collision.