STEEP LEARNING CURVE FOR COULTHARD

Thirteen-time Supercars Championship race winner Fabian Coulthard is coming to grips with the front-wheel drive Honda Civic TCR car, expressing that there is very little of his knowledge that has been useful in the car.

With a test day under his belt yesterday and two 30-minute practice sessions today Coulthard is getting used to the front-wheel drive characteristics.

“I can only go off what I was told, and what I was told was fairly factual,” Coulthard said to AUTO ACTION.

“They’re pretty loose, you got to drive them a certain way. Everything you’ve learned over the years, basically throw it out the window and start again. It’s been a steep learning curve for me.

“It’s good fun! It definitely beats being on the couch at home,” he laughed.

So far the Stan Sport car has been pretty good, we are just chipping away and I’m still learning things. The guys at Wall Racing are doing a good job so we’ll just keep chipping away.”

Coulthard explained that the car was comfortable when he first rolled out on Thursday, but in order to make a TCR car quick it must be a manageable handful.

“I’m always learning,” he said. For me we started off with a car that was quite stable, quite balanced and then we’re slowly making it what a TCR car should be.”

“It’s pretty foreign, the first front-wheel-drive car I’ve driven, but to get in and drive it and have a feel, there’s no substitute for doing that.”

Last year the Honda Civic TCR cars were off the pace at Symmons Plains as it is a track that does not suit the cars with two long straights.

However, the Hondas appear to have made a step forward this year, most notably with Zac Soutar topping the timesheets.

Coulthard ended the second session in fourth only 0.047s off Soutar, but was not getting ahead of himself.

“As you say the Honda weren’t special here last year,” Coulthard said to AA. “They filled the last four grid spots, so anything ahead of that is going to be a bonus and we’ll try and make a step forward.

“It’s early days, we qualify tomorrow, I think that’ll be the true indicator of where everyone’s performance is, so far we’re happy, but we don’t know until tomorrow.

“Personal goals, I’d just like to have some clean fun battles and not be at the back, just race up the front again.”

Coulthard shares the Wall racing garage with his former Supercars Championship co-driver Tony D’Alberto.

The former Bathurst 1000 bridesmaids like a similar car and the New Zealander believes this has been beneficial for him.

“Tony and I have a great relationship which stems from many years,,” Coulthard explained. “We’ve been co-drivers together for many years. It’s fun, we enjoy each other’s company, we have good banter.

“Tony’s helped me where he can with the car in a balance like that, the setup comes from Tony because we like a similar car, so I think that in itself is quite good.”

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