Reynolds backs FG X to boost results

His confidence boosted by his first taste of the Ford Falcon FG X, David Reynolds is sure he can re-energise his V8 Supercars career beginning with the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains on March 27-29.

So far this year it has been where Reynolds will drive in the future not what he is driving now that has been the subject of attention after strong pre-season comments from Bottle-O team owner Rod Nash and team principal Tim Edwards, the latter telling v8supercars.com.au the likeable 29-year old was "driving for his career" in 2015.

Reynolds is out of contract with Nash this year and the team's deal with naming right sponsor, The Bottle-O, is also up for renewal.

But while acknowledging the pressure of the situation, Reynolds said he was leaving the off-track issues for manager John Ruggiero to concentrate on, while he set about extracting results from the promising new FG X.

"I feel a lot more pressure than I ever have," he admitted. "I am coming out of contract, Bottle-O is coming out of contract as well. So there are a few balls in the air which the team is trying to juggle.

"But my job right now is to concentrate on the racing and try and do the best possible job for the team, the sponsor who has been so good to me for the last four years and my team.

"Eventually the team will tell me they want me or they don't want me."

Reynolds had his first taste of the FG X and its new aerodynamic package at the F1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, where he qualified fourth. However, he slipped off the track on oil in the first of four races and spent the rest of the weekend climbing back up through finishing positons in the teens. Meanwhile, teammates Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert recorded four consecutive 1-2s in their Pepsi Max Falcons.

Racing the FG II Falcon, Reynolds finished only 15th in the championship last year after breaking through for his first race victory in 2013 and finishing ninth in the title, as he did in 2012 when he also finished a close second at Bathurst.

Reynolds says the change from FG II to FG X is instantly and obviously noticeable.

"I am very impressed with how good the car (FG X) is straight away and surprised just how different it is (to drive). The balance is much improved. You can race people, you have better tyre life, you can have confidence under brakes and in higher speed corners.

"It is a much more stable platform front and rear ... and we have only really started to scratch the surface of development."

At Symmons Plains the V8 Supercars field faces a revised SuperSprint format, comprising two 60km - rather than 100km races - on Saturday, while the 200km race continues on Sunday. Tyre allocation swaps from six soft sets of Dunlops in 2014 to three hard sets and one soft set, the latter only for use on Sunday.

"Symmons will be a bit tricky because the race on Sunday will be the first time an FG X runs on a new soft tyre," Reynolds explained.

"So you spend the whole weekend tuning the car on the hard tyre and the race on Sunday will probably be won and lost on the soft tyre."

Reynolds' plan is simple for Symmons Plains and the rest of the year - run at or near the front of the pack.

"If I can consistently run in the top five or six in qualifying and races I will be quite happy with myself. If the car is exceptional on the day and we end up on the front row then I will be trying to challenge for wins."

Reynolds believes the FG X should work well at Symmons Plains, as long as he can qualify toward the front of what will be a very closely packed field.

"It is a challenging track and you have to do the maximum lap and cleanest lap in qualifying," he said. "There is also the element of trying to get a tow ... and that can make a difference of two to three tenths (of a second).

"The car needs to be strong under brakes for the two big braking zones and make sure you get good exits. And you need a good strong engine - they call it motorsport for a reason!"

It's not only a new car Reynolds is adapting to right now, but a new relationship with ex-Erebus engineer Brad Wischusen. He replaces Nathaniel Osborne, who has been promoted to run the Prodrive Racing Australia engineering group after two years working on the Bottle-O car.

"Ozzie's promotion means a lot of the stuff we talked about over the last two years to try and make the cars better he now has the time to design and re-design to try and achieve our speed, which is really good," said Reynolds.

"Brad and I have only had three outings together and he is great. He does the job, he's very smart and he understands it. He is really calm and collected, doesn't get frustrated or depressed or angry or anything like that.

"Obviously the new car helps the relationship develop because it is performing consistently all the time, whereas the old car was doing something different every corner and it was hard for the engineer to engineer it."