Scott Pye’s mid-season test day at Winton Motor Raceway yesterday was cut short by a driveline issue.

The DeWalt-backed Team 18 driver was forced to pull stumps 45 minutes early on a crucial day for learning and development.

Pye though hailed the outing as “really successful”, as the Winton SuperSprint event looms in less than two weeks.

“We had a lot of changes today so Phil [Keed, race engineer] will be happy after today and I felt really comfortable in the car,” the 31-year-old reported.

“The day ended slightly earlier than we planned for with a driveline issue that put us out for the last 45 minutes of running for the day.

“All in all it has been a positive day, the car speed is good I think and we have high expectations as we look forward to next weekend.”

Pye’s 2021 co-driver James Golding also got a chance behind the wheel, as was the case on the #18 Irwin sister Commodore as Mark Winterbottom and Michael Caruso split time in the car.

“It was a big day with around 100 laps completed between Caruso and I,” said Winterbottom.

“Test days are not glamorous, they’re always the hardest days for our crew all year with big changes thrown at the car between every run and no chance to stop in order to maximise the track time we have.

“It’s a mentally and physically draining day but the car didn’t miss a beat and we got some good feedback from the changes we applied today.

“I thought the car was pretty strong today. We were here earlier in the year for our pre-season test and at the end of that day I hated the car, but I finished up today really happy with where we are at.

“The super soft tyre compound comes into effect when we race here next week, but all-in-all we had a successful day, we go home happy and keep our heads down and prepare for the next round.”

Winterbottom is sixth in the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship standings, five places and 117 points ahead of Pye.