Mobil 1 HSV Racing has made a change to its engineering line up ahead of this weekend’s Red Rooster Sydney Super Sprint.

The Melbourne squad has opted to move its 26-year veteran Rob Starr into the engineer role on Scott Pye’s car after adopting the position at the team’s Winton test last week.

Starr, who had held a strategist position at the squad since the departure of team principal Adrian Burgess, will take over from Alex Somerset on the #2 Commodore.

Somerset will now focus his attention on design work as the operation bids to close the gap to the front of the Supercars field.

He had engineered the #2 entry following an engineering restructure mid-way through last season.

The team heads to Sydney following a productive test at Winton that saw Pye and James Courtney evaluate several new parts.

“I’ve been looking forward to this round since the test day, we walked away from that feeling positive,” said Pye in a team event preview.

“We still have work to do, but I think the team as a whole is all moving in the right direction.

“The race pace of the car has been reasonably strong in recent rounds, so continuing to improve that qualifying pace will be a focus of ours again. If we are able to gain 1-2 tenths, it will see a big improvement up the grid.

“It’s an important weekend for us to continue the development process, especially with the endurance season coming up over the next few months.”

The Red Rooster Sydney Super Sprint is set to begin on Friday with opening practice scheduled for 1250 AEST.