Co-drivers' quoteboard: Bathurst practice
09 Oct 2014
"Fabs was struggling in the first session and then I got in the car and I was really struggling! I think the car of the future generally lends itself to being a bit loose and tailey and to be honest I was very, very, nervous initially. After some changes and with the second set of tyres it was really quick. The car can still get quite a bit better so I think we're going to be OK."
"At the top of the mountain it was a bit evil for me. It's hard to feel confidence in the car up there and on a Thursday you really don't need to be pushing too hard and possibly making a mistake, which is going to cause problems. There's always tuning going on and we'll keep working at it."
"It was a pretty good day. First and foremost, the co-drivers role is to keep the car off the fence, and I did that!
"The car is a lot better than Sandown. James has been going quite well, and I felt really comfortable during my time in the car.
"As long as I'm near the pace, I'm happy, but there's still a long way to go."
"It was a really good start. The car seems quick and the team are happy.
"I was pleased with my first session. It didn't start the way I wanted it to, and the car was quite nervous, but I was expecting that after the feedback that Michael gave.
"At the end of my session, we put another set of tyres on that were much better than what I had before but I didn't get to post the time. From the sector data, and the way I felt, the car was unbelievable. I was really happy and we just need to continue to improve it over the weekend."
"It's been pretty good.
"To be honest, the first practice session that we had was hampered by an electrical issue that we've rectified.
"Rick only got in four laps in the opening practice, which meant that any tuning that we really needed to do was carried over to my session.
"I don't think we're there yet, we've still got a way to go.
"I was quite happy with my run in the car, we were just outside the top ten, but I'm not sure what other people were running with their tyres.
"I'm quite happy with where we are pace wise, but I think we still have a ways to go yet."
"Daunting has got to be the word.
"I knew the track fairly well because of the 12 Hour, I got 10 or 12 laps at that race, so I knew which way the track went.
"But it is obviously a tough track to learn, and these cars are hard to drive, and I've still got a bit to learn.
"I've learned quite a bit today about the car, how to drive it, and I've made some improvements.
"Again I've been running around on some old tyres, which is the best thing to do try and learn the car.
"I've got another drive in the morning in free practice four, I'll get a few more laps out there, and hopefully find a few more tenths."
"The car was improving in every run. There's definitely been a gain in each session. We made a few suspension changes and once we got some fresher tyres on I was pretty happy with the pace. We definitely have a bit more fine tuning to do but the car is more in the window now and come tomorrow when we really start to get down to business we'll be on the pace."
"Today was reasonably good for Scott and me. We had a plan on some set up changes which we worked through and I felt we did improve the car. I was really happy how the car responded. We didn't run a second set of new tyres so we tumbled down a bit but I think we have set a good base for the race on Sunday."
"I am pretty happy with our pace compared to the other co-drivers," he said.
"The car didn't feel too bad, there are a few areas that we need to work on but I think most teams are struggling to find a comfortable balance with the resurfaced track.
"There is a long way to go, so we are just focused at this stage on trying to product a comfortable and consistent car for Sunday instead of a car that is just quick over one lap."
"Not an ideal start to the Bathurst weekend. We had a tyre failure this morning when David was in the car, and did not make it out for the co driver session.
"It did more damage than it looked really. The bodywork wasn't too bad but the rear end, gearbox, transaxle and suspension had to be completely replaced, so the DJR guys were hard at it again!
"David ran about eight laps in P3, then I jumped in, did one lap then another red flag, got out again then the chequered flag so it was a pretty tough day. We only managed about 10 laps for the day but at least we did get the car back out on track. We have more running tomorrow to get the car up to speed so I am looking forward to getting out there."
