|
Team Australia driver Will Power and the Aussie Vineyards squad had mixed fortunes on the final day of testing at Sebring International Raceway in Florida today.
The team encountered wet conditions in the morning season, with Power setting the fourth fastest time, before engine problems hampered the afternoon session for Power and the #5 Team Australia Panoz.
With only limited running in the morning’s wet session, the team had hoped to put the last three day’s data and experience to good use and set a fast time in the final session of the test. Engine problems, however, meant Power was only able to complete 29 miles (46.67km) in the final session of the test, ending the day with the 12th fastest time of 52.394 seconds.
Although the team had some unfortunate luck, Power was able to gain some valuable miles and comes to grips with the new Panoz DP01 Champ Car with a combined test mileage of 175 miles.
Team Australia worked through various set-ups and changes on the new Champ Car at the 1.65-mile Florida circuit over the three days of testing, allowing the team to make further changes at its Indianapolis base before heading to Houston MSR Raceway in Texas for the second Champ Car pre-season test next on February 11-12.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY …
Will Power – #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Panoz DP01
“We got some good miles today in the wet, but it was very inconsistent because it was raining and then it stopped so we didn’t get a good read on the car,” said Power.
“When it dried up we started making progress in the afternoon and made some changes, but we had some engine problems and that ruined our day, which was really unfortunate.
“We haven’t had the best run over the past couple of days, with some of the problems we have come across. All in all it’s a good car, we just need to go home and sort the new car out and I think we will have a good run in Houston.”
Derrick Walker – Team Australia Co-Owner
“Over all three days, I think it’s fair to summarise our test as being somewhat problematic,” said Walker.
“We had a lot of new car installation issues, synchronising the shift system and at the end we had an engine problem, which is fairly uncharacteristic of Cosworth, but unfortunately it killed our day just as the track started to get dry again after a wet morning.
“We lost some valuable dry time to get our final set-up and put in a good time.
“All in all, the car, mechanically, ran fine and I think we have a really good Champ Car here and we will put some good racing back on track. Overall from the series point of view, it was a huge three day test of the new Champ Car and it’s safe to say it’s a huge success.”
Craig Gore – Team Australia Co-Owner
“One of the main priorities of these pre-season tests is to find the bugs in the new car and fix them before the first race in Las Vegas,” said Gore.
“I’m sure that Will would have liked to have a little more track time, but he showed that he can produce good pace and got himself acclimatised to the new car fairly quickly.
“The team will now work hard over the next week to get the car even better for the Houston test so that Will can really push it hard to get some fast lap times out of it.”
|
News 
