TRIPLE EIGHT POSTPONE FURTHER ZB COMMODORE TESTING

The Holden ZB Commodore Supercar on track at Norwell Motorplex – Photo: Supplied

Triple Eight have elected to postpone further testing of the new Holden ZB Commodore after the car was damaged during aero testing at Stanthorpe Airport.

The car had been scheduled to complete its first Accredited Manufacturer test day at Queensland Raceway this week. However, damage to numerous panels on the car caused by stone-chips from the runway have seen the delay further testing until after the Gold Coast 600.

David Cauchi, who has been leading the development of the new car, indicated that high temperatures at Stanthorpe and grip of the race tyres caused the damage.

“The track temp at the airfield was quite hot and that meant that the sticky race tyres that we run on were ripping up some of the gravel on the tarmac of the runway and basically stone-blasted a lot of the panels on the car,” Cauchi explained.

“All the damage is cosmetic, nothing that we can’t repair, but with the tight turnaround it was already going to be a really big push to do this test and prepare properly for Bathurst. With the extra workload of repairing the panels we’ve decided to postpone it until late October.”

He also confirmed that the team had made good progress with the aero balance of the new Commodore ahead of the official Supercars aero test.

“The car is in a very good window of where we thought it would be, which is positive, and the changes we were making were matching the downforce numbers that we were predicting, so we feel like we have a good base car and a good bunch of tools to be able to tune the aero balance come the official Supercars aero test.

“There are a lot of people who’ve worked very hard behind the scenes, as well as going racing, so it was extremely rewarding to see the car on track. It’s come together really nicely, so it’s very satisfying, but the job’s not done yet – what really matters is how the car performs on track, which we’ll see in the coming months.”

With Triple Eight main drivers away with other commitments, Super2 driver and Triple Eight mechanic Kurt Kostecki was handed the key for the initial straight-line runs for the aero testing.

“The car was really great overall,” he said. “It was such a big push to get it done, everyone chipped in, and to have the car run perfectly in the shakedown and at the aero test was pretty special.” said Kostecki

“Unfortunately the track wasn’t ideal and there was a lot of gravel being picked up by the tyres, which caused a bit of damage to a brand new car.

“It isn’t what we wanted, so unfortunately we’re going to have to postpone the test on Thursday to make sure the car’s 100 per cent perfect so we can get out there and maximise our development on the new car when we test next month.”

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