TeamVodafone to debut their new Falcon
TeamVodafone head to Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway next weekend hoping to reassert their dominance in the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series after a rollercoaster start to the season.
In an effort to revive the team’s championship campaign, a crucial decision was made following the disastrous Hamilton round to fast-track the finishing touches to chassis 14 – the final BF Ford Falcon the team will ever construct.
Originally scheduled for a debut at Sandown, hundreds of extra man hours have ensured that the new car will be on track and competitive in Perth.
The team had an early morning 20-lap shakedown of the brand new chassis at Queensland Raceway today, taking advantage of the rules which allow a new car to effectively be bedded in before a round.
Jamie Whincup said the car was exceptional and applauded the effort of all involved to speed up the completion process.
”After coming back from New Zealand with a destroyed car in a little under two weeks the guys have finished off a brand new chassis which we successfully shook down this morning,” said Whincup.
“Of course all cars feel a little different but at the same time the new car felt very tight in the steering and brakes and we proved that the pace should be fine.”
“I am looking forward to working with Chassis 14 and hopefully I can generate the same amount of trust that I had with Chassis 12,” Whincup claimed.
Heading into the previous round of the championship, the 25-year-old was a clear cut point’s leader, enjoying a buffer of over 100 points back to the next competitor.
The ensuing qualifying disaster, which sidelined the devastated racer, saw him take zero points from the round and slip to fifth in the standings.
Craig Lowndes will be on the hunt to improve his point’s position next weekend after a difficult outing in New Zealand.
He sits seventh in the standings but said he is confident in the car’s pace and feels the team has the necessary setup to do a good job at the notoriously sandy and low-grip circuit.
”It is important to qualify well at Barbagallo, it is a shorter track that always produces very close qualifying results,” Lowndes explained.
“The track is quite technical and is hard on tyres, so it is critical to get a well balanced car.”
“We will be looking to turn our championship around this weekend and get back on track,” Lowndes added.
Barbagallo Raceway is one of just four tracks that Triple Eight Race Engineering has never won a round at, a list which includes Phillip Island, Bahrain and the newly-incepted Hamilton street race.
