Stone Brothers Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen set the pace at the V8 Supercar Championship Series official pre-season test at Queensland Raceway today.
The 20-year-old SP Tools Racing driver, the youngest in the 2010 field, posted the day’s fastest lap in the afternoon session. Jim Beam Racing’s James Courtney made it a Ford one-two ahead of Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall.
But while Van Gisbergen was the man to beat today, he suggests it means little when he gets to the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series season-opener at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on February 18-20.
“This afternoon we got the car really good on a better set of tyres,” said Van Gisbergen.
“We were mid-pack and we put on the new set of tyres, like most other people did, and we were straight to the top.
“But you don’t get any trophies for a test day. We’re just hanging out for Abu Dhabi and getting ready for that.”
While it was ‘no trophy’ glory for van Gisbergen, there were some familiar faces in unfamiliar positions.
TeamVodafone, debuting its new Holden Commodore VEs, finished the day in 10th and 11th place. Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup will head back to Queensland Raceway this Friday for more testing before all the Queensland teams pack up their gear and head to the Middle East on Monday.
| Pos. Car Team Driver Make Best Time (session) |
| 1. #9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 1:10.7414R (PM) |
| 2. #18 Jim Beam Racing James Courtney Ford Falcon FG 1:10.7610r (PM) |
| 3. #39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 1:10.8832 (PM) |
| 4. #19 Dick Johnson Racing Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG 1:11.0523 (PM) |
| 5. #12 Bing Lee/Panasonic Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG 1:11.1574 (PM) |
| 6. #17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 1:11.1655 (PM) |
| 7. #4 IRWIN Racing Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 1:11.1818 (PM) |
| 8. #51 Castrol Edge Racing Murphy/Morris Holden Commodore VE 1:11.4519 (PM) |
| 9. #47 Wilson Security Racing Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG 1:11.5614 (PM) |
| 10. #888 Team Vodafone Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE 1:11.6367 (PM) |
| 11. #1 Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE 1:11.6725 (AM) |
| 12. #66* Phil Foster Racing Phil Foster Holden Commodore VZ 1:13.2197 (AM) |
| 13. #112* Triple F Racing Todd Fiore Holden Commodore VE 1:13.4590 (PM) |
*denotes Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series entry
