Richie Stanaway took valuable insight from his first Supercars test day with Shane van Gisbergen at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The 2017 Sandown 500 winner is set to test again with Triple Eight Race Engineering this week, but last Wednesday’s outing was his first with the team in Supercars, having contested the Bathurst 12 Hour in one of its Mercedes-AMG GT3s.
Then, he described the Banyo-based outfit as “probably the best team I’ve ever worked in”, as he, Jamie Whincup and Prince Jefri Ibrahim combined to finish third in the Pro-Am class at Mount Panorama.
Stanaway is due to steer van Gisbergen’s #97 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet Camaro this week at Queensland Raceway when Triple Eight continues its pre-season testing programme, ahead of his enduro campaign with the squad.
The visit to Sydney was, however, also his first opportunity to see how the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and three-time champion goes about driving a Supercar.
“The same goes for the team – the way they operate – and the way that Shane drives; it’s extremely valuable for me to be part of it all,” he told Speedcafe.com.
Asked if he had obtained a big insight into how van Gisbergen goes about the craft, Stanaway replied, “Absolutely.”
Being a co-driver, the 31-year-old did not drive a prototype during the Gen3 development phase and hence was getting his first laps in the new breed of Supercar in Sydney.
On the experience, he remarked, “I really enjoyed it. Car’s great to drive, so I think it’s going to be a great product for the series.”
Stanway made starts in FGX Falcons, both in the Supercars Championship and and Dunlop Super2 Series, from 2016 to 2018 but, since then, had only driven ZB Commodores.
The New Zealander’s resume also includes wins in the GP2 Series race and World Endurance Championship (LMGTE Pro class), in machinery which, like a ZB Commodore, is high in downforce compared to a Gen3 Supercar.
On how loose the Camaro felt, Stanaway commented, “It’s not so different from the Gen2 car. It’s still very much got the Supercar DNA.”
Triple Eight’s #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro will test today at Queensland Raceway, before Car #97 gets a run in the hands of van Gisbergen and Stanaway tomorrow at Ipswich.
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