Team Red cars plan to go faster at Albert Park
17/3/2005 16:30 (Press Release) -
The popular notion that “red cars go faster” will be put to the test next weekend at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park, as both the Holden Racing Team and reigning Formula 1 world champion manufacturer Ferrari fire up their respective championship challenges for 2005.
Sporting a new all-red livery on its two VZ Commodores, HRT hopes to emulate the other well-known “Team Red” by setting a cracking pace from the outset in the V8 Supercar races which will support the season-opening F1 championship race.
The Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have enjoyed a period of unrivalled dominance in F1 in recent seasons, similar to HRT’s own purple patch when Mark Skaife won a hat-trick of championships in 2000-2002 along with two Bathurst 1000s.
Sharing colours and a winning pedigree is not the only synergy between the two teams – Schumacher’s race engineer, Chris Dyer, began his career in racing with HRT in 1994 before breaking into F1 with the now-defunct Arrows team in 1996 and finally landing his current role as Ferrari and Schumacher’s technical guru.
Like Ferrari, HRT’s 2004 season had plenty of pace, Skaife winning more pole positions than anyone else with four in total. But unlike the other Team Red, HRT was unable to convert pace to results with just one round win – Todd Kelly at Darwin’s Hidden Valley.
Skaife said Ferrari’s absolute domination of F1 since Schumacher won the 2000 world title provided an excellent model for HRT as it attempts to return to its position of V8 Supercar dominance which began around the same time as Ferrari’s.
“Ferrari has set itself up well with great drivers in a team that is cohesive, stable and prides itself on hard work and technical excellence,” he said.
“A good team learns from its mistakes as well as its successes, so 2005 is going to say a lot about what sort of team we are.”
The prospect of the team’s first test session of the year on Monday at Phillip Island had whetted Skaife’s appetite for this weekend’s three races on the Grand Prix support program, he said.
“I’m probably no different to all the other drivers in being keen to get started, but I’m definitely more excited about this season than I have been for a while.
“I believe we are as prepared – physically and mentally – as we can possibly be to mount a serious championship challenge this year.”
Teammate Todd Kelly, who will drive his brand-new Holden Commodore VZ for the first time on Monday, was similarly keen to get started.
“During the off-season it always feels like a fairly long time to be unable to do the job you’re paid to do,” he said. “Mark’s given me some good feedback on our new chassis design after driving it in two rounds last year, so I can’t wait to roll out the car at the Grand Prix and find out where we are.”
Kelly has his own potential distraction this weekend, but it is one that is unlikely to earn the wrath of team boss Skaife. His wife, Kristy, is due to give birth to his first child on Friday, the day of the first V8 Supercar race at Albert Park.
“We might see if we can induce the baby to come early but if it doesn’t, I might need to make a dash to the hospital at some stage,” he said. “These things rarely happen according to plan so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Release Date: 25/02/2005
Holden Racing Team
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