Test day focus demonstrates Randle progress

Thomas Randle believes that a greater emphasis on car rather than driver at a test this week is demonstrative of his increasing understanding of a Supercar.

Randle joined Tickford Racing this year for a rookie season in the Dunlop Super2 Series after two years in Europe, during which time he also made one Kumho Tyre Australian V8 Touring Car Series start at Queensland Raceway.

He just missed out on winning Round 3 at Barbagallo Raceway having achieved a maiden Armor All Pole Position at the Perth circuit, and is currently 12th in the series after a power steering failure saw him leave Adelaide empty-handed.

The 22-year-old tested his Skye Sands FGX Falcon at Winton on Tuesday along with Virgin Australia Supercars Championship team-mate Richie Stanaway and a host of other teams and drivers.

Randle says that it was the first time the crew focused more on the car than his own learning.

“We had two test days before Adelaide and then one after Perth but this is probably the first one where we’ve really focused a lot more on car set-up rather than myself,” he told Speedcafe.com.

“At the first two, it was just acclimatising to the new car and then the one after Perth was just sort of reiterating everything that has gone on for the first few rounds of the championship.

“Now it’s more so trying to extract more out of the car and less out of me. I think I’m getting much more to grips with the car.”

The 2017 Toyota Racing Series champion is set for another test day before Round 5 of Super2 at the Rabble.Club Sandown 500.

While unwilling to make any firm predictions, Randle did note that the Melbourne track is at least one which he has experience with from starts in state Formula Ford, Formula 4, and Sports Sedans.

“It’s a track that I have been to before, which is refreshing to know,” he said.

“Bathurst and Newcastle (the final two rounds of the series) will be new but at least Sandown’s a familiar place.

“Testing’s all well and good, people have got stopwatches there, but all that stops once you get into qualifying.

“(Prior to that), you have no idea what tyres other people are running so that’s why I’ve just got to focus on my own program.

“We’ll see what happens when we get to Sandown when everyone does their green tyre run on Friday afternoon.”

The Sandown 500 takes place on September 14-16.