After an interesting start to the season it seems like this test day couldn’t have come soon enough.
Itching to get out on track and have a good play in the sand pit was just what the Red Bull Holden Racing Team needed.
The reason: critical and serious learning curves for the crew to hopefully get a grip on set-ups that have been used throughout the season.
Car #88 Race Engineer, David Cauchi said all the tricks and tools of the trade were put into play across the main series and development squad cars throughout the day.
“Our main goal was to improve our understanding of a few tools we have been experimenting with over the last few race meetings,” he said.
“When you try new things at a race meeting you don’t always get to go through the right number of steps to really convince yourself it is the right direction, so the test day was the opportunity to spend the required amount of time on those detailed steps.”
The test day proved to be all work and no play (or sharing in Jamie’s case), as even Craig Lowndes only managed a handful of laps in Car #88.
“It was a really good test day as we got through our program and did a lot of learning,” JDub said.
And about sharing with others…
“Well, we would have liked to have Craig in the car for a little bit more but what’s most important at this stage is giving Craig a fast car for endure rounds later in the year,” he said.
All jokes aside the test day was also another opportunity to get a closer look at Car #88 after its hiccup in Townsville.
“There were no issues as a consequence of the crash as we checked over the chassis on the jig just to ensure there was nothing we had missed in our initial assessment,” said Cauchi.
“Everyone did a really good job getting it pulled apart, checked and prepared for the test with no compromise.”
READ MORE: Car 88 Damage: The Verdict Is In
With Queensland Raceway just down the street and around the corner from the workshop as they say, progress is the word on everyone’s lips.
“I can say we have a better understanding of some new tools; however, I am sure our competition has also made progress so it is difficult to say how much of a step we might have made relative to everyone else,” said Cauchi.
“I guess if you see us standing on the podium next week, that will speak for itself.”
Super2 series drivers, Brenton Grove and Kurt Kostecki were also out on track looking to continue building momentum after a pole position and podium finish in Townsville.
It’s a busy week at the workshop with debriefs happening for some final tweaks and touches before the crew get ready to fire it up at Queensland Raceway, July 26-28.
