Southland driver impresses in Toyota FT-60 test
National Formula Ford champion Alex Crosbie had his first taste of Toyota Racing Series power recently when he tested the current Toyota FT-60 as part of his prize as champion.
The Southland Boys’ High School pupil took the wheel for the first time on a challenging day of weather at Hampton Downs with three wet sessions and only one dry session during the day, but he impressed Castrol TRS category manager Nicolas Caillol.
‘‘This was a big jump for Alex based on his experience, but he handled it exceptionally well and did plenty of decent laps in both the wet and the dry,’’ Caillol said.
‘‘The conditions were tricky throughout the test, so it was very good work from Alex.’’
Crosbie completed 80 laps in what ended up being a weathershortened test, but thoroughly enjoyed the car, the engineering support and the input from international racing champion Chris van der Drift.
‘‘It was very enjoyable to see what it was like to drive a car nothing like I have driven before and how much different the overall environment was compared to what I was used to,’’ he said.
‘‘It has way more power than the Formula Ford and a lot of different buttons on the steering wheel that control many different things on the car and it’s a fascinating learning process.
‘‘As well as the cockpit there were other things to consider such as different driving techniques like learning how to drive a car with wings. That meant learning what downforce does to the handling of the car and how to make it work effectively.
‘‘It was also my first time driving a car with paddle shifts. In the wet also I had to keep off the painted lines and make sure the car was straight before I put the power down but overall it was a great experience.’’
The young gun was the only driver to stand on the podium in all eight races this season with a season highlight a race-winning performance at Ruapuna.