That was the key takeout from WAU team principal and Supra program architect Carl Faux’s rare media appearance at The Bend on Friday.
The Brit was giving little away about the history-making two-day test for the new machine or the road ahead, aside from the impressive mileage.
“It was great to unveil it to everybody,” he said of the car, which was revealed at Supercars’ Bathurst 1000 launch function on September 1 before hitting the track two days later.
“We got a good few laps in, we did nearly 800-kay at Winton, ticked all those boxes, happy with that. We’ll put that behind us now and start endurance season.”
Putting mileage on the 5.2-litre 2UR-GSE V8 engine that was developed under Faux’s watch in the UK was the main focus of the test.
According to the team, its Academy coach Warren Luff, Enduro Cup co-driver Fabian Coulthard, Brad Jones Racing’s Macauley Jones and Neil Crompton all drove at Winton.
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“It’s in its infancy at the moment,” noted Coulthard on The Bend 500 TV broadcast.
“It’s a lot of procedural stuff at the start which is part of any homologation and things like that. We won’t see its true potential until next year but it’s nice to hop in a brand-new car.
“The Supra looks fantastic, it sounds fantastic, it’s a credit to everyone involved who has been able to put that together so soon in the year to give us the ability to go testing with it.”
Faux said the team is yet to set a date for the Supra’s second test, with its next scheduled running a demonstration appearance at the Bathurst 1000 on October 9-12.
“You’ll see it at Bathurst,” he said. “I can’t wait for everyone to see that and hear it, actually. That will be great for the fans.”
WAU is understood to be well advanced in the build of a second new chassis, while it has also committed to converting the Ford Mustang that Chaz Mostert raced earlier this year.
The team is required to have a car completed for dispatch late this month ahead of post-season wind tunnel testing in the United States
“We’re working through a plan,” he said. “Nothing has been defined exactly [regarding] which car is going to the wind tunnel yet, we will see.”
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