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Phillip Island shakedown for BJR ZBs

13 Feb 2018
More new Commodores debut ahead of Sydney test
2 mins by James Pavey
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Brad Jones Racing has taken to Phillip Island today to shakedown its two new ZB Commodores as a busy week of Supercars track action continues.

The Albury-based team is performing the permitted 60km of running with its new cars for Tim Slade and Nick Percat ahead of Friday’s pre-season test in Sydney.

Tim Blanchard will also start the season with the new ZB bodywork, which is being applied to the chassis that he debuted at Bathurst last year.

While Winton is BJR’s nominated test track, teams are permitted to perform shakedowns at any circuit in their home state.

Jones told Supercars.com that his team chose Phillip Island to get a better read on the new car’s aerodynamics, but says the delayed supply of ZB parts has made it a difficult week.

“There was a general practice day booked today for Phillip Island, which created a good opportunity for us to go down there,” Jones told Supercars.com.

“We thought it’d be a good chance to go somewhere with a long straight before going to Sydney Motorsport Park.

“It’s a long way to go, but when we made that plan we didn’t anticipate the build to be what it is. It’s been a crazy few days.

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“I flew to Brisbane on Saturday and picked up some parts and we’ve been driving backwards and forwards, sending trucks up and back to Triple Eight.

“We’ve currently got enough parts for two cars, which is what we have at Phillip Island, but we’re still waiting on parts to complete the third car.”

Both cars are running without liveries. Percat's Adelaide colours were revealed via a render last week, while Slade's is expected to be released tomorrow.

As well as fresh bodywork, the team also has new engines, with BJR switching from Noonan Race Engines to KRE, which is the long-time supplier of Triple Eight.

While the new cars run at Phillip Island, BJR’s three Dunlop Super2 entries for Macauley Jones, Jack Smith and newcomer Zane Goddard are testing at Winton.

They are sharing the circuit with Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing, which is shaking down Scott Pye’s new ZB, for which the livery was released this morning.

Super2 teams MW Motorsport (Alex Rullo, Garry Jacobson and Dean Fiore), Eggleston Motorsport (Dominic Storey) and Grove Motorsport (Brenton Grove) are also on track.

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