IRWIN RACING LAUNCHES ITS 2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN

IRWIN RACING LAUNCHES ITS 2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN

Topics: Alex Davison

IRWIN RACING LAUNCHES ITS 2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN

Stone Brothers Racing
December 20, 2010

The 2010 V8 Supercar season may have wrapped up but IRWIN Racing has put the season behind it and gone full steam into 2011, unveiling its new livery in Melbourne on Thursday. The off-season for the V8 Supercar Championship is a short one, with all teams congregating at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway for a compulsory pre-season test on January 29, which is 45 short days away.

Prior to this date, all V8 teams will update their cars, change liveries, announce new drivers and give staffing some time off.

IRWIN Racing decided to get on the front foot, becoming one of the first teams to reveal its new 2011 livery design.

“I love the new IRWIN Racing design, it’s clean, sleek and stylish, it looks great,” said IRWIN Racing driver Alex Davison.

“It's good to get it all locked away so everyone can see what we will look like, it tells everyone that we are serious about next season and ready to go.

“We are all happy to put 2010 behind us and take what we’ve learned into next year.

“We took some really positive points away from Sydney, so I am going into next year full of confidence.”

Davison said that launching now puts an official end to 2010 and has everyone focussing on 2011, an important one for IRWIN Racing.

“2011 couldn’t be more important, for IRWIN Tools, Stone Brothers Racing and Alex Davison,” said Davison.

“It's our third year working together. We didn’t have the success we wanted this year but we know we have the vital ingredients to ensure success. Based on what we have learned in recent weeks we know we are capable of great results.

“We can win trophies in 2011, we know we can and this is our goal.”

Stone Brothers Racing team principal Ross Stone believes that IRWIN Racing took a big step forward at the recent Sydney Telstra 500, which will pay dividends in 2011.

“In Sydney David Stuart (IRWIN Racing’s engineer) and Alex (Davison) found a sweet spot in the IRWIN Ford,” said Ross Stone.

“Shane (van Gisbergen) and Alex (Davison) ran on the same set up and it worked for Alex for the first time. They were able to help one another, there was nothing between them.

“The IRWIN Ford reacted well to change. The guys didn’t have to make big changes; it was more fine tuning to a solid base (set-up).

“We didn't get the results at Sydney, but over and above the lack of results we had a solid weekend with the set-up of the car and it performed well, which is a really important step forward for everyone associated with the IRWIN side of the garage.”

With so much to look forward to in 2011, Davison’s only regret is that the season is now over.

“We’re all looking forward to a break but I’m glad we are starting the season by launching now,” said Davison.

“I would have been rapt to be racing again next week actually, so we could have kept pressing on with the step forward we made at Sydney.

“It would have been great to continue with the momentum to see if we can build upon our new base set-up.

“I’ll enjoy the Christmas break, but seriously, the start of the 2011 season can't come around soon enough for me.”

IRWIN Tools not only remains committed to the sport but is confident that Stone Brothers Racing is heading in the right direction.

“IRWIN Racing is making good progress, we are really confident that we'll continue to make progress,” said IRWIN Australia/NZ President Nick Pritchard.

“Alex (Davison) is doing a nice job.

“We still consider IRWIN Tools to be a pretty young brand.

“V8 Supercars is a really good fit for IRWIN Tools, the people that use our tools day in, day out watch the sport, so this is perfect for us.

“We like the sport, and we really like Stone Brothers and Alex. We are looking forward to 2011.”