– V8Supercars.com.au
The newest V8 Supercars manufacturer will debut today at Sydney Motorsport Park – and driver Scott McLaughlin is hoping to surprise a few people.
The sydney.com V8 Supercars Test Day – free for fans to attend – marks the first proper run of the Volvo S60s, pitting them against established manufacturers Holden, Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz AMG out on track.
McLaughlin, who had an incredible debut season last year becoming the youngest ever V8 Supercar race winner, is unsure of what to expect.
“It’s definitely a cool thing rocking up here with a new car, but also it’s quite a nerve wracking thing because obviously you just don’t know how it’s going to go,” McLaughlin told v8supercars.com.au.
“But I think overall, seriously it might surprise a few people as well – it might surprise us.
“It’ll be interesting what happens. I honestly have no idea how it’s going to go (when) we’re up against everyone else.”
With seven hours running time across two sessions tomorrow, there will be plenty of opportunity to see the bright blue beasts roar around the 3.93km race track, along with the 23 other competitors dressed in new look liveries.
Two sessions will be split by the popular grid walk, which allows fans to get up close and personal with the cars and stars of the sport.
Plenty of running tome today means McLaughlin’s teammate Dahlgren – a rookie in V8 Supercars – will have the chance to try his hand in the Championship he hailed as the greatest in the world.
“Everything will be brand new – a bit of a steep learning curve,” he said.
“It’s a new track, a new car, a new Championship – the only think I know is the Volvo S60 and I know that very well, but this is a different regulation and different things. New drivers to race against, everything is new.
“How best to tackle that? The answer is one step at a time. At the end of the day if I focus everything on driving and I do that well, the rest will fall into place I think.”
After announcing last June the Swedish manufacturer would join the world of V8 Supercars, Valvoline Racing GRM has worked with Volvo Polestar Racing in Sweden to prepare and develop the S60s. While they initially tested with the new chassis and a Walkinshaw Racing engine, the S60s now have B8444S power plants under the bonnet – which will have their first true assessment today.
Reliability is the word on everyone’s lips.
“We’ll be trying to see how many laps it can do without any issues,” McLaughlin said.
“We just want to get on top of the car, we haven’t tuned the car that much with the aero settings we’ve got now so we sort of want to get on top of that as well.
“If nothing breaks, it’ll be a great day. At the end of the day, if there’s going to be a few issues, that will be ok. We (hope we) can get a general balance.”
The 20-year old Kiwi helped unveil the striking blue Volvo in Sydney on Thursday, touring along the Sydney Harbour Bridge alongside morning traffic.
He loved the experience and showing off his new machine.
“The car looks awesome! It’s a lot different to everyone’s – it’s quite a lot shorter, front and back … it’s pretty cool!”
Today’s sydney.com V8 Supercars Test Day is free for fans to attend, with on-track action beginning at 9am and running until 5pm. There is free undercover grandstand seating along the front straight and paddock access throughout the day.
See and hear the 2014 field of V8 Supercars, including the new Volvos – can they surprise you?
Be the first to comment