The Holden Racing Team has revealed that it tested Australian cycling great Cadel Evans in its V8 Supercar ride car at Calder Park last month.
The 2011 Tour de France winner, who is a Holden ambassador, cut laps of the Melbourne venue at the completion of team ride days on December 11 and 12.
The factory squad has released a video of the test in the lead-up to this week’s Tour Down Under cycling classic in South Australia.
The 36-year-old Evans described the outings as “like a dream”.
“The braking was fantastic, which was as I expected,” he said.
“But, getting the power on to the road seemed to me like the biggest challenge. And, of course, keeping everything else going along at the same time.”
Evans was tutored by HRT regular Garth Tander, who declared himself impressed with the cyclist’s transition.
“He did a great job straight away,” said the 2007 V8 Supercars Champion.
“He was straight into it. Much like most top-level athletes, whenever they try something new and foreign, you start three or four steps above where everyone else would step.
“When he came back the first time he said ‘Wow, it’s got a lot of power’, and you do have to be so careful with the throttle.
“That was probably the thing we spent the most time talking about after each of his runs.”
See below for the HRT’s video wrap of Evans’ test
