MOTORSPORT: Supercars rookies set the pace

Paul GoverRookies have completed a Supercars rout after topping the times at the two pre-season tests ahead of the season-opener at Bathurst this weekend (February 26-28).

Zane Goddard trumped the big names to run quickest at Queensland Raceway and Will Brown completed the double with the top time at Winton in rural Victoria this week.

Neither of the main game newbies expects to repeat their one-lap form at the Mount Panorama 500, which will be raced over a pair of new 250km sprints at Bathurst, but both were happy to top the times.

“It’s always exciting to be fastest. I’ll take it,” said Brown.

“It’s never a bad thing to see your name at the top,” said Goddard.

Only eight cars ran at Queensland Raceway but it was the heaviest hitters in Supercars, Shell V-Power and Red Bull-Ampol Racing, who were being watched the closest as Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen lined up against the new Mustang pairing of Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.

Neither team went for a quick time because of super-hot track conditions, but SvG completed the most laps of the northern test as Davison had to cope with a number of niggles including a gearbox change as he and de Pasquale ran new cars for the first time.

A total of 28 drivers cut laps at Winton on Friday (February 19), when testing resumed for southern squads after the COVID lockdown in Victoria, as most teams started with their main-game drivers and then allowed their Bathurst co-drivers some rare track time ahead of The Great Race in October.

“You want to go fast and make gains from last year, but today is all about the program. Plenty of laps,” said Chaz Mostert, who was running a new Commodore for Walkinshaw Andretti United and finished second at Winton.

“You want to keep making improvements through the day. The lap time probably won’t show anything.

“It’s about trying to set up the car and get ready for Bathurst in less than a week. Overall, I’m really happy.”

But he was not as happy as Brown.

“We probably had a bit of an advantage coming out of our rookie day at Winton, but it was one of those days when everything in the team worked well. Brodie is driving good too, and we both like the car the same way.

“We changed a few things on the car on older tyres at the start, then we bolted-on brand-new Dunlops at 10:15 to go for it. I felt pretty confident with the car and the team.”

James Moffat was quickest of the co-driving crew with the 18th-fastest time in the Monster Mustang he will share with Cam Waters, one of the likely title contenders in 2021.

There were no real surprises at Winton but Brown knows Bathurst will be a different challenge.

“We felt good before the day and it’s a confidence boost going to Bathurst. But we know Bathurst is a tough track for rookies to roll up and have a crack,” he said.

Winton Raceway pre-season test times:

Queensland Raceway pre-season test times: