First Test For DJR Team Penske Delivers Solid Progress
February 7, 2015
DJR Team Penske was on track today in the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship’s first hit out at Sydney Motorsport Park. The Xbox Ford Falcon FG X driven by Marcos Ambrose showed promising form as the day wore on. With three long sessions and temperatures heating up, the task was focused on gaining Ambrose valuable time in the car before the Clipsal 500.
The first session was run under cloudy conditions, but the Xbox Ford Falcon only ran 18 laps in the 2 ½ hour allocation as some niggling problems saw the car spend time in the garage.
The second session did not see times tumble as the track was getting hotter as the cloud cover burnt off. Ambrose was able to deliver a far more productive practice and ended up in 10th overall in the 25 car field.
With a half hour break, Marcos and the DJR Team Penske crew worked on a number of changes to improve the overall balance of the car. A late run on the Dunlop Sprint tyre saw the times tumble again and Ambrose finished the day in P15. The gap to the fastest car on track had narrowed to 6/10ths of a second proving the gains made during the day.
The team has gained very valuable data from the day and will work to improve the cars performance before another two hour practice session on Sunday morning.
#17 - Marcos Ambrose – DJR Team Penske - Xbox Ford Falcon FG X
“The day has been good. It started out a bit shaky with some issues that cost us some track time. We got going in the afternoon after working very hard on the car. As the day went on I felt a lot more comfortable and we are just getting it to a point where I can really feel the car and start going in our own direction. It is early days but everyone has improved. So it is hard to know exactly where you stack up. But overall a good first day”