Kean enlists D'Alberto's assistance

V8 Supercars co-driver Tony D’Alberto is heading to Winton this weekend, but instead of getting behind the wheel, he’ll be helping out Dunlop Series young gun Josh Kean.

Kean contested two off-one rounds in the second-tier series last year after purchasing a Walkinshaw Racing Commodore VE II, and formed a relationship with D’Alberto, who completed the handover of WR 013 at Winton Raceway last year.

For 2014, he will contest the full Dunlop Series season, this weekend with Vili's backing the Holden. 

“Being so new to the series and these cars, it’s great having someone like Tony with so much experience behind him,” Kean told v8supercars.com.au.

“He knows this track, he knows these cars, he’s driven them for many years now, so it’s a great insight when you’re struggling to find a couple of tenths of a second here or there. He can get you a lot quicker with that sort of stuff.”

The 20-year old had a tough run at the season opening Clipsal 500, suffering an engine failure, which meant coming away from the two Adelaide races without any points. 

“But we did two rounds last year – and Winton was one of them – so we sort of know Winton better than the rest of the tracks.

“It’s not our first round there, which gives us a little bit of confidence, instead of being a place that’s fresh to us again, so it’s definitely a better feeling.”

D’Alberto – who will contest the PIRTEK Enduro Cup later this season with Tim Slade in Supercheap Auto Racing colours – said it helped young drivers to have someone to confer with.

“Because I’m not driving full-time this year… they just asked if I could give a bit of a hand and pass on some knowledge I’ve gained over the last few years of running our own team and the driving I’ve done in these cars,” D’Alberto said.

“Hopefully we can keep improving the team and get Josh up to speed quickly.

“It’s interesting, because in motorsport, you don’t generally have a coach like in football, soccer, or tennis… someone’s who’s done it before, knows the game and can cut the learning curve down and make it a bit quicker to get to the end goal.

“Probably one guy who helped me quite a lot when I was doing Development Series was Glenn Seton – sometimes you just need to have a quick chat, say, 'I’m doing this, what do you reckon?'. They might agree or give you another angle to look at it from. And it just speeds up that process of learning and getting on top of these cars, which are difficult to drive.”

Last year, D'Alberto achieved his best V8 Supercars qualifying result at the twisty 3km Winton circuit, starting from second on the grid and finishing fourth, his best race finish, which he equaled later in the year on the Gold Coast with Jonny Reid. 

Much like in the main game, D'Alberto says qualifying is going to be an important part of doing well in the Dunlop Series races over the weekend.

“I definitely agree with Tony there,” Kean said.

"These cars, they’re hard to get to the absolute limit, especially when they’re all so new to you. Qualifying is learning how to push the car so quick, and finding that grip in the tyres, getting brakes up to temperature and everything properly and grabbing one quick lap…

“I’d definitely like to get a good qualifying out of it and be up in the top 15, pushing maybe the top 10,” he said of the weekend.  

“After our result at Clipsal, I’d just like to come away with a successful weekend and I’d love to push the car and see if we can get into the top 10. It’s something you’ve got to strive for.”

The Dunlop Series kicks off with two 40-minute practice sessions on Friday, at 10.35am AEDT and 12.30pm. Two 25-lap races will run over Saturday and Sunday at the Winton 400.