Team 18 drivers 'got money's worth' in testing

It was a successful mid-season test at Winton for Team 18’s driving quartet, with recruit co-driver Michael Caruso saying he “got our money’s worth” from the day.

Caruso and James Golding won’t get behind the wheel in anger until October’s Bathurst 1000, with Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye to carry out five more single driver rounds before the sole enduro.

Winterbottom and Pye are sixth and 11th overall, with the former enduring a trying weekend last time out at the OTR SuperSprint.

Both drivers are yet to crack the podium in 2021, unlike their fellow Victorian teams in Tickford Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Erebus Motorsport.

WATCH: SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF TESTING

The Holden squad completed over 200 laps across its two cars, with Caruso combining with Winterbottom to log over 110 laps.

"It’s been a strong day for the IRWIN Racing car, it ran really smoothly with all the changes we threw at it, we completed over 110 laps so we certainly got our money’s worth from the track hire today,” said Caruso, who has shifted from Tickford.

"It was good to be here at the test today as these laps are so valuable, we’re not too far away from the big race of the year at the Bathurst 1000.

"These laps really come in handy to familiarise myself with the car and everybody in the team.

"Really looking forward to having another crack in the car at some more ride days and test days soon.”

Winterbottom left the Bathurst season-opener third overall, but has slipped to sixth after tough events at Sandown, Tasmania and The Bend.

With minimal practice time at two-day events in 2021, Winterbottom was pleased with the track time on Tuesday, having also impressed in pre-season testing at Winton in February.

It also marked a critical opportunity to freshen up memories of Winton, which will host next weekend’s fifth round of 2021 on the new Dunlop Super Soft tyre compound.

“It was a big day with around 100 laps completed between Caruso and I,” the 2015 champion said.

“Test days are not glamorous, they’re always the hardest days for our crew all year with big changes thrown at the car between every run and no chance to stop in order to maximise the track time we have.

“It’s a mentally and physically draining day but the car didn’t miss a beat and we got some good feedback from the changes we applied today.

“I thought the car was pretty strong today. We were here earlier in the year for our pre-season test and at the end of that day I hated the car, but I finished up today really happy with where we are at.

“The super soft tyre compound comes into effect when we race here next week, but all-in-all we had a successful day, we go home happy and keep our heads down and prepare for the next round.”

Pye, who was one of the standouts of the 2020 season, combined with Golding to tick over more than 90 laps before a driveline drama saw the DEWALT Commodore parked up with 45 minutes remaining in the day’s running.

“It’s been a really successful day, we had a lot of changes today so Phil [Keed, race engineer] will be happy after today and I felt really comfortable in the car,” Pye said.

“The day ended slightly earlier than we planned for with a driveline issue that put us out for the last 45 minutes of running for the day.

WATCH: DRIVERS TALK TESTING

“All-in-all it has been a positive day, the car speed is good I think and we have high expectations as we look forward to next weekend.”

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to Victoria for the Winton SuperSprint across May 28-30. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo with highlights on 7 and 7 Plus. Check out the weekend schedule here.