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Pre-season pace setter Will Davison says blustery conditions and a new aero package made for a tricky day at The Bend Motorsport Park.
The 23Red Racing driver topped the timesheets in the first official hit-out before the season gets underway at the Superloop Adelaide 500 this weekend.
High winds battered the Tailem Bend facility with mixed temperatures and UV on the circuit as clouds blew through.
Speaking with Speedcafe.com following the test, Davison said not much should be read into the times due to the ‘difficult’ conditions.
However, he did notice the changes that have been made since the Vehicle Control Aerodynamic Testing (VCAT) adjustment.
“A very tough day to do aero testing with huge winds that were varying a lot as the day was unfolding,” said Davison.
“We made a lot of changes to the car and understand what was wind, what was UV, what was the soft tyre or the hard tyre.
“We made a lot of good changes to the car. The car certainly is behaving differently to what we’re used to.
“We’ve lost, I would say, some rear grip, some rear stability. It seemed to be quite a big issue for us today.
“We worked through it and we made some sense of the car and everything we learned last year certainly still equates to our current package.”
Davison was quickest in with a 1:47.7437s to end the day one tenth of a second clear of Andre Heimgartner of Kelly Racing, also in a Ford Mustang.
Despite the aerodynamic troubles, Davison said he’s happy to start the season at the top of the pile.
“It’s always nice when you finish the one and only official test at the top of the times, although that wasn’t our focus at all.
“We had a lot of things to try today and cram it into the test day. It’s a real challenge. It’s awesome to be back in the car.
“I haven’t done anything in the last few months, so had to dust off the cobwebs and understand our new aero package.
“I really tried to understand the new damping package. Certainly, the car is behaving quite differently. It seems we’ve got a really good package.”
Supercars now heads to Adelaide for the opening round of the season, beginning on Thursday (February 20).
