The Crittenden Automotive Library

SBR HAPPY WITH TEST DAY PROGRESS

SBR HAPPY WITH TEST DAY PROGRESS

Stone Brothers Racing
February 2, 2011

Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) have emerged from the 2011 season’s first official test day happy with the progress made by their three drivers at Eastern Creek on Saturday.

“Our first outing for 2011 was a very positive experience,” SBR Team Principal Ross Stone said.

“In fact I couldn’t be happier,” he added.

“All three boys did a great job - with all of them featuring in the top ten before lunch.

It was great being able to try a few different things at a circuit like Eastern Creek which is quite different from our home test track of Queensland Raceway,” Stone said.

“We had a comprehensive test program to work through and we packed up the truck on Saturday night knowing we are pointing in the right direction for a good showing at the opening race in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight’s time.”

Shane van Gisbergen, campaigning in the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon echoed his team boss’s positive take on the newly-introduced compulsory test day.

“All ‘round it was a great day,” van Gisbergen said.

“We ran on harder compound greens in the morning and were second fastest which was a good start to the day.

Testing at Eastern Creek was a nice change because the circuit has a lot of different aspects to it that allow you to get a varied reading on how one change to a setting behaves across both a fast flowing sector as well as a couple of tighter corners which probably gives us a better reading on the car’s true pace and helps us perfect a good base from which to start next time we roll out of the truck,” van Gisbergen said.

“After not being in the car for a couple of months you forget how quick they are but having said that by the end of the day you still want more power!” he quipped.

Alex Davison in the #4 IRWIN Tools Racing Falcon also enjoyed his first run of the year and is confident of a good start to the 2011 championship season.

“We weren’t the quickest out of the box to start with but you expect that on old rubber but when we put some fresh greens on before lunch there was a dramatic difference in our pace which was promising because we knew there was some more speed to come later in the day,” Davison said.

“Later in the afternoon we were on track for a pretty good lap but unfortunately we ran out of fuel and the lap wasn’t counted but it was nice to know that the car had the speed to do the job.

We made some great progress over the day which is exactly what you need at the start of the year and outside of the car Dan (Davison’s new engineer) and I worked really well together so overall the feeling’s pretty good amongst the boys in our garage.”

Tim Slade in the #47 Lucky 7 Racing Falcon also made great use of the test day, dialling through a number of different settings with his engineer Wes McDougall in an effort to develop a strong platform upon which to base his 2011 campaign.

“We managed to wok through our plan and finish the day pretty happy where the car was,” Slade said.

“It’s actually not the easiest track to test at because the circuit is so hard on tyres,” he added.

“You have to be careful because you make a change and while the car might feel better it isn’t necessarily reflected in your lap times because the tyres go off so quickly.

That said, it was good testing with the whole field because you got a feel for where everyone was at,” Slade said.

“The cars were strong in Abu Dhabi last year so we have a good base of knowledge to build on for this year so everyone’s feeling pretty good about our first race.”

The SBR Falcons next hit the track at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Friday February 11.

Preseason Test, Eastern Creek RESULTS (combined)

1 C.Lowndes/M.Skaife 1:30.1877
2 Michael Caruso 1:30.7552
3 J.Bright/J.Richards 1:31.0567
4 Lee Holdswoth 1:31.3764
5 Will Davison 1:31.4551
6 Shane van Gisbergen 1:31.5008
7 Tony D'Alberto 1:31.5306
8 Jason Bargwana 1:31.5983
9 Garth Tander 1:31.6048
10 Mark Winterbottom 1:31.7871
11 Dean Fiore 1:31.8212
12 Jonathon Webb 1:31.8624
13 Alex Davison 1:31.8991
14 Tim Slade 1:31.9152
15 Jamie Whincup 1:31.9481
16 Greg Murphy 1:31.9532
17 David Reynolds 1:31.9753
18 Steve Owen 1:32.0869
19 James Courtney 1:32.1090
20 Paul Dumbrell 1:32.2050
21 Russell Ingall 1:32.3193
22 Todd Kelly 1:32.3430
23 Steve Johnson 1:32.4046
24 Warren Luff 1:32.6106
25 Karl Reindler 1:32.7584
26 Rick Kelly 1:32.7706
27 James Moffat 1:32.8920
28 Fabian Coulthard 1.32.9886