Davison fires late in the day in Tradingpost Falcon …
TRADINGPOST FPR Falcon driver Will Davison has become the fastest man to ever lap the Sandown circuit in a touring car after setting a blistering time late on the Official V8 Supercar Test Day in Melbourne.
The #6 Ford pilot reeled off a stunning 1m09.3230s lap late in the afternoon, undercutting the previous fastest V8 Supercar lap of the circuit by more than three-tenths of a second.
The previous fastest V8 Supercars lap time on the current layout (which has been in play since 2002), was set by Jamie Whincup in qualifying in 2009 – 1m09.6670s.
The mark is also faster than the touring car times achieved in the 1970s and 1980s at Sandown, where the overall track length was the same however the actual layout was more flowing that it is today.
Davison was fastest for the day clear of Craig Lowndes (TeamVodafone), Lee Holdsworth (IRWIN Racing), Todd Kelly (Jack Daniel’s Racing) and Jonathon Webb (Tekno Autosports).
Garth Tander was sixth from Tim Slade, Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen.
Frenchman Alex Premat made his official debut with Fujitsu Racing/GRM, ending the day 28th on the timesheets as he continued to learn his new surroundings.
A range of endurance drivers ran laps this afternoon, including Paul Dumbrell having his first run in the #1 TeamVodafone Commodore he will share later in the year with Jamie Whincup.
Earlier in the day, Bottle-O Falcon driver David Reynolds topped the morning session in his first drive of his new #55 machine.
After a shower in the morning, rain briefly struck the 3.1-kilometre circuit at 3.00pm AEDT before the sun shone back through and conditions remained dry for the rest of the day.
The teams now have three weeks to prepare for the opening event of the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 1-4.
Sandown Test Day – Top Ten Afternoon Times (and laps completed in session)
1. Will Davison, 1m09.3230s, 65
2. Craig Lowndes, 1m09.5588s, 73
3. Lee Holdsworth, 1m09.5796s, 61
4. Todd Kelly, 1m09.8234s, 47
5. Jonathon Webb, 1m09.8576s, 62
6. Garth Tander, 1m09.9376s, 56
7. Tim Slade, 1m09.9790s, 43
8. Mark Winterbottom, 1m09.9871s, 77
9. Steve Owen, 1m10.0505s, 44
10. Michael Patrizi, 1m10.0736s, 54
Cole Hitchcock | Media Manager | D +61 7 5630 0315
M 0412 743 097 | F +61 7 5630 0338 | P +61 7 5630 0364 |
www.v8supercars.com.auPO Box 607, Southport BC, QLD, 4215
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=14734.msg100205#msg100205
