Stability and development to benefit Team Red in 2005
16/2/2005 19:02 (Press Release) -
A settled, focused team and an advanced chassis development program will be the cornerstones upon which “Team Red” plans to build a championship challenge in 2005.
Holden Racing Team drivers Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly today unveiled their 2005 racing car, a VZ Commodore featuring a striking, predominantly red livery that harks back to the dominant days of the 2001-2002 season, when the team won both the championship and the Bathurst 1000.
Team owner Skaife paid tribute to the team’s outstanding effort late in 2004 in fast-tracking a new chassis – the most advanced ever produced by the team – and said the extra effort would reap substantial benefits this season.
“We worked extremely hard to bring the new chassis on for the Tasmania race, which gave us two meetings’ worth of data as a head-start on this year,” he said.
“The car was sensational – speed-wise, it was certainly quick enough and responsive to setup changes – and means we can take a running start into 2005, rather than rolling an unraced chassis out of the truck and hoping for the best.”
He said the team was preparing a “sister car” – an identical chassis to his own – for Todd Kelly which will be completed in time for the start of the season.
“Todd will have all the benefits of the development we’ve done on the first car, as well as being able to provide immediate feedback for consistent back-to-back development of the two cars throughout the season.”
Skaife, a five-time Australian touring car champion and four-time Bathurst 1000 victor, said he had no doubt that the team would benefit from the hard lessons learned in 2004.
“You tend to learn a lot about yourselves under adversity and we’re a stronger, better team for the experience,” Skaife said. “The fact that 100 per cent of ‘Team Red’ are returning in 2005 speaks to how solid we really are. Stability in motorsport is crucial.
“There’s a real buzz of excitement and anticipation around the place, like everyone knows that something special is just around the corner.”
Kelly, who scored the third round victory of his career in Darwin in 2004 and finished 7th overall in championship standings, was also looking forward to kicking off 2005 with a new car.
“My car is being worked on at the moment and we’re hopeful of rolling it out at the Grand Prix,” he said. “I haven’t driven Mark’s car yet but from what he’s told me it’s a real evolutionary step for us so I can’t wait to get started.
“Last year we didn’t have enough resources in our engine program to move forward but we’ve really beefed up that area of the operation and I’m expecting our engines to be very competitive this year.”
The Holden Racing Team Commodores of Skaife and Kelly will first be seen in action at Melbourne’s Albert Park from March 4-6 as part of the Australian Formula Grand Prix program, with the season kicking off from March 17-20 at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
Release Date: 15/02/2005
Holden Racing Team
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