The Red Bull Racing Australia Holdens have hit the mountain for the 2014 Bathurst 1000 decked out in their brand new camo livery for Thursday’s three practice sessions.
With the newly resurfaced track throwing up plenty of unknowns for the entire field throughout the day, Craig and Steve Richards were happy with where their car ended up, finishing the day’s sessions in 12th, second and eighth.
“It was definitely a productive day for us,” Lowndesy said. “We were searching a little bit because the new surfacing has done what everyone thought it would by making all the cars faster. But with that you’ve got to tune the car to suit the new track and we’ve managed to do that.
“We were really happy with the car at the end of the day, we just didn’t have the speed to be right up the front but we know there is still a lot more in the car and me.
“Tomorrow is a new day and we have a couple of more practice session before we’ve got qualifying so we should be good for a top 10 result and then the shootout, which is always an unknown, but we’re looking forward to it.”
While the No.1 Commodore got off to a slow start in the first session due to an issue with the tail shaft, Jamie and co-driver Paul Dumbrell are ready to put in the hard yards to get the car back to the top of the pack.
“It was a really tough day for us,” JDub said. “We’re not in the ballpark with the car at the moment and we’re currently around the mid-pack.
“I had a suspicion that this might be the case today and it has been. With the massive change in track conditions as a result of the resurfacing, it’s always a lottery on how much pace you’re going to have when you roll off the truck.
“Having said that, we’ve been in this position plenty of times before and we’ve pulled through. I’ve got full faith in the team and engineers that they can reinvent the wheel overnight and try to get us back where we’d like to be.”
The pair finished the three practice sessions seventh, 10th and 17th respectively.
Tune in tomorrow for two practice sessions and qualifying around the mountain from 09:30 AEDT and don’t forget to check out the telecast times here.
