Xiberras noted in a team preview for this weekend’s Townsville 500 that PremiAir had an engine pulled by Supercars following the event.
“It is no secret that our weekend in Darwin didn’t go to plan, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some highlights as well – for instance, our straight line speed was so superior at Hidden Valley Raceway that they sealed one of our engines for inspection after the event!” he wrote.
“Of course, no issues were found, and our compliance was affirmed, along with our confidence that the long straights of Townsville will suit our PremiAir Racing Camaros this weekend.”
Speedcafe understands engines from three cars were taken by Supercars for inspection post-Darwin in a process typically undertaken by the category multiple times per season.
Engine performance was a particular talking point at Hidden Valley, where Ford teams were again displeased with an apparent straight line disparity to the Chevrolets.
It’s unlikely to be such a focus in Townsville given the only significant straight is far shorter than that in Darwin.
PremiAir was the big disappointment of Hidden Valley amid high expectations following a pole position at the event in 2024.
Drivers James Golding and Richie Stanaway failed to feature all weekend, ending up a dismal 17th and 24th respectively on round points.
Golding dropped from 11th to 14th in the standings as a result with just four rounds remaining before the finals cut-off.
Xiberras, though, said spirits remain high within the team.
“Also buoying our spirits is the fact that at Darwin, our crew achieved the third-quickest pit stops in the field, behind Triple Eight and Brad Jones Racing,” he continued.
“It won’t be surprising for you to hear that our pit stops have been a key focus for our team as we have sought to improve wherever possible, and so to see that we are stacking up so well against our competitors is positive news indeed.
“Something else we have been working on is qualifying – we say it time and time again, but in this game, with such tight margins and such competition between all the racers, qualifying is so very important, and it will once again be a make or break component of this weekend’s racing.”
PremiAir’s Darwin weekend included competition director Ludo Lacroix handing race engineering duties on Stanaway’s car to Andrew Gilliam.
The team parted ways with CEO Gwyn Dolphin in the lead-up to Darwin after just two events in the role.
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