The next Gen3 landmark awaits over the hours ahead when, all going well, every Supercar in the field will have been shaken down.
Thus far, 20 race cars have had their shakedowns, leaving just another five before every vehicle which will be on the grid in Newcastle next month has had miles put through it.
Those five will all run today, at either Winton or Queensland Raceway, in what will be the last Supercars action before the championship-organised all-in test day at Sydney Motorsport Park on Wednesday (February 22).
Team 18 has opted to give itself as long as possible before hitting the track in coming hours at Winton with both of its cars, the #18 Chevrolet Camaro which will be driven by Mark Winterbottom and the #20 example which will be in the hands of Scott Pye.
Dick Johnson Racing, PremiAir Racing, and Matt Stone Racing all shook down one vehicle each last week and will head west to Queensland Raceway today to clock up kilometres in their respective sister cars.
For DJR, it is the #11 Ford Mustang’s turn, with Anton De Pasquale behind the wheel, while both Jack Le Brocq and Cameron Hill are set to drive the former’s #34 Truck Assist Chevrolet Camaro after both hopped into the latter’s #35 MSR entry just over a week ago.
PremiAir Racing will shake down its #23 Camaro with just Tim Slade to drive in what shapes as his first significant running for his new team after getting about 10 laps in James Golding’s #31 machine a week earlier.
All of the Queensland teams, including Triple Eight Race Engineering, still have a test day up their sleeves before the season kicks off on March 10 in Newcastle, as does Walkinshaw Andretti United, Tickford Racing’s #5 and #56 Mustangs, Team 18, and Grove Racing.
Officially, that is ‘Test #1’ per the Supercars Operations Manual and while it may be taken after ‘Test #2’, the championship’s all-in affair at Sydney Motorsport Park, it must be completed before the first event of the season.
Winton and Queensland Raceway will both open for shakedown running today at 08:30 local time (08:30 and 09:30 AEDT respectively).
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