French V8 Supercars rookie Alexandre Premat says that his performance in the #33 Fujitsu Racing Holden is improving with each passing session after ending the opening day of practice at Symmons Plains fifth fastest.

The former Audi DTM and sportscar driver currently sits 18th in the championship standings after the opening round in Adelaide.

The 29-year-old completed a total of 55 laps across the three practice sessions held at Symmons Plains today, running initially on hard tyres before setting his 51.71s best on his final lap of Practice 3 on softs.

“Definitely I think that I am much better with the softer compound,” said Premat.

“They feel better to me because there is just more grip in general and with the hard tyre I’m just missing the grip and need to adjust to the car.

“I’m improving every session and every race, (and) tomorrow we will do our best again to be in the top 10.

“I’m pretty happy about the car. We put some new data inside the car since Adelaide, and I think we just need time to learn the tracks and the car, especially the car, as it’s very different compared to what I was used to.”

Premat is working with highly experienced engineer Richard Hollway this season, and says that improving their communication will be an important part of the ongoing development process.

“I think it is working quite well,” said Premat of his relationship with Hollway.

“Right at the beginning you need to understand your engineer, and your engineer needs to listen to how you explain the feeling and the feedback from the car.

“We still need to work on this, because we need to have a better language and all those things. I think it’s really good, but we need just to improve that.”

See below for Speedcafe.com’s Symmons Plains Race Guide
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