DJR buoyed by test day gains

Homework — albeit positive homework — lays ahead of the Shell V-Power Racing Team after a promising mid-season test.

The team was one of four Queensland squads — along with Triple Eight, Matt Stone Racing and Nulon Racing — to test on Thursday.

The Ford squad had its full suite of drivers on hand — Will Davison was joined by older brother Alex, with Tony D’Alberto alongside Anton De Pasquale.

Unlike the pre-season tests, Thursday went smoothly for DJR, allowing the team to throw changes at its two Mustangs.

The test follows a Tasmania full of race pace — both cars making up 22 spots each in the three races — but still questions marks over one-lap pace.

Davison and De Pasquale were among the fastest cars in the races, but were forced to fight through the field.

Davison did manage to finish fifth in Race 11, having started seventh, and was just 0.8s from the podium.

On Thursday, both cars were able to log plenty of laps and gain plenty of data, something Team Principal Ben Croke believes the team will benefit from.

“The test day today is a really important opportunity, mid-year after a few rounds, to try and get an understanding of the cars,” Croke said.

“We’ve had a great weather and lots of good running, we’ve been able to bank lots of laps.

“A lot of changes, and a lot of positive changes and a lot of work has gone into today’s test program.

“We’ve been able to get through the day really, really well.

“We can dig through the data now, pull all the positives out of it and move ourselves back towards the front again.”

Davison and De Pasquale are ninth and 18th heading to the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 16-18.