RBRA's First Major 2013 Test
Jamie Whincup’s Red Bull Racing Australia engineer Mark Dutton said today’s test at Queensland Raceway was about getting to the bottom of the lack of pace experienced at the Sucrogen Townsville 400.
Today was RBRA’s first major test session of the year and there was plenty on the ‘to do’ list.
“Getting to the bottom of the lack of pace in Townsville is obviously a big thing on the test list here, understanding what happened there and making sure it doesn’t happen again,” Dutton said.
And it wasn’t just car 1 – Craig Lowndes’ Holden Commodore wasn’t at it’s best on the Reid Park circuit at the last event either.
Priorities for the 888 crew today were working on tyre life and that crucial hard compound set-up – the factors the team pinpointed as their main weaknesses during the Townsville race debrief.
“We struggled a bit in Townsville with running the tyres up, so we’re really just going back to the basics, fixing cambers and pressures and that sort of stuff – just trying to make the car last a lot longer over a long distance,” car 888 engineer Jeromy Moore said.
“We’re pretty ok on a qualifying lap, so we just need to work a bit harder on the hard tyre and set-up for a long duration, really.”
With the Coates Hire Ipswich 360 just around the corner, the team is looking to maximise running time on the circuit. But with the differing conditions between a test day and a race meeting, getting the right set-up for Queensland Raceway today doesn’t necessarily mean the same magic will be reproduced at the event in a little over a week’s time.
“It’s always quite different when all the other cars are here and all the new tyres are put on and the track grips up, so quite often it’s different at a test day,” Moore explained. “But it’s still the same corners, still the same bumps.”
Team Principal Adrian Burgess confirmed there were new components on the car, though he wouldn’t give any secrets away.
“We have got some new parts on the car, which we’re evaluating, putting miles on for our race here,” Burgess admitted.
“Yes, there is new stuff in the car, but we’re also going over old ground and reconfirming. We haven’t tested since March, so a lot’s changed with the cars in the last three months. We’re just validating some of those changes.”
RBRA wasn’t the only team on track at Queensland Raceway, with TEKNO Autosports, Dick Johnson Racing and Erebus Motorsport V8 having a hit-out.
It’s a track RBRA has a great record, with Lowndes having taken the last five straight wins.
The team was joined by co-drivers Warren Luff (888) and Paul Dumbrell (1 – get to know the co-drivers here).
RBRA reported both co-drivers doing well.
“Both co-drivers will get … as many laps as we can give them,” Burgess said.
“Obviously we’re giving them some changes so they can understand and they can feel how the car reacts to them.”
The Coates Hire Ipswich 360 runs from July 26-28; tickets are available through Ticketek.
