The two Mobil 1™ Boost Mobile Racing machines rolled out of the garage for the first time in 2018 today at the Supercars test day at Sydney Motorsport Park, as the Adelaide 500 preparations ramped up.
The biggest change from 2017 was the new Holden ZB Commodore shape, new in 2018.
Pit lane opened at 9am, and the team went straight to work, turning the first timed laps of the year.
The morning session ran until 12:30pm, where Scott Pye finished with the fifth best time, and James Courtney the eighth.
Unfortunately, after lunch Car No. 2’s day ended prematurely with a front splitter issue. While it was disappointing not to complete the full day of testing, there was some positive signs to take from the laps that were turned, and valuable data collected.
For car No. 25, the afternoon went much better. James Courtney ran through a full program, running right until the 5pm finish time.
In another positive, both Warren Luff and Jack Perkins were able to turn some vitally important laps in their respective rides for the 2018 endurance season.
Today was far greater than the best one lap flyeraround the circuit, but the pace shown, and data collected was a real positive.
Now, the spotlight turns to round 1, as we prepare to tackle the street of Adelaide for two 250km races to kick off the season.
Cars will first hit the track on Friday March 2.
James Courtney
“It was great to get out today and get stuck in for the year. It’s felt like a very long time between Newcastle and now, so it was fantastic to jump back in.
“Overall, it was a good day for us. We got through the program we wanted to and learnt a lot along the way.
“Obviously the day is much bigger than one flyer at the end, so broadly speaking, we are really happy with how things went.
“At the end, the car speed was good, so I’m really looking forward to getting to Adelaide in a few weeks time, I love that place.”
Scott Pye
“It’s disappointing to not be able to complete the full day, but the car was running strongly, which is a good sign.
“We were able to try and few different things, and work on the car balance throughout the day, getting it to a point where we were happy.
“Overall I think it was a really successful day. The car felt racey and I walk away with confidence.
“Now we switch the focus to Adelaide. I can’t wait to get back to my home town and hit the streets.”