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Ford
Performance Racing’s Steve Richards has a head start for this weekend’s racing
after acting as a consultant for the development of the V8 Supercar Championship
Series’ newest circuit: Hamilton, New Zealand.
Richo,
who was born in Auckland and lived in the area for three years, has been working
with engineers since 2006 deciding the street circuit’s eventual route, which he
says has some great features including a steep cambered roundabout that he is
particularly looking forward to racing.
Mark
Winterbottom has proven quick to master new circuits, racking up four podium
finishes from six starts at Bahrain’s International circuit, which was
introduced to the V8 Supercar calendar in 2006.
He and
Richo arrive in New Zealand tomorrow for this weekend’s racing, and will get
their first taste of the circuit during Friday’s test session at 12:50pm local
time.
Steve
Richards
#6
Castrol FPR Falcon
“About
two years ago Hamilton asked me as a drivers’ representative to walk the circuit
with the engineers and have a look at things like corner radius and run-off
areas. I actually have had to think about the track quite a bit since then and I
suppose that does give you a bit better feel for the place than if you just rock
up on the day!
“I’ve
been there three times in total and the track has changed quite a bit from the
first time I saw it. Initially it was a lot longer, by about 1.2 kms, but they
shortened it to make sure the spectators got plenty of
action.
“The
track is very wide for a street circuit so I don’t think we’ll have as many
issues with walls as we do somewhere like Indy!”
Mark
Winterbottom
#5
Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon
“The Skaifes of V8
have been around for 20 years and every time you go to a track you get better.
Coming to a brand new circuit is definitely an advantage for me because it evens
everyone up.
“You can approach it
in two ways: slowly learn the track or push hard straight away with the possible
result of having a crash. I’m not going to crash but if the car’s good to start
with it makes the track easier to learn because on the first ten laps you’re
concentrating on that rather than having to make changes to the set
up.
“There’s no data for
Hamilton, which doesn’t just mean engineering figures; it’s your memory bank as
well. After every round most drivers write down notes about where there are
bumps and curves, gear changes, that sort of stuff. Now you go out from scratch.
We do walk around the track, which helps a little bit with run-offs and gravel
traps, but you can’t feel the bumps and those little things that upset the car.
When you approach a corner at 260 km/h it’s all very different.”
Tim
Edwards
Team
Principal
Tim Edwards will not
be attending this weekend’s racing after today being admitted to hospital with
appendicitis. He is currently undergoing surgery.
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