Two hour Friday practice a winner
19/4/2005 13:20 (Press Release) -
Westpoint Racing's Glenn Seton believes the two hour practice sessions introduced to the majority of V8 rounds this year is a step in the right direction. Seton made the comment following today's 120 minute practice session at the New Zealand round of the V8 Championship.
“I thought that today's longer practice session was terrific,” Seton said.
“It was not only good for the teams, because you can achieve so much, but it was good for the fans.
“It must have been fascinating for those in the grandstand to see how teams go about improving their cars.
“One minute you can be placed 20th, you pit to make changes and then the changes help you move up to the top five or ten.
“I think it's a win-win for everyone and something that is positive for the sport.”
Glenn Seton and Westpoint Racing made the most of their day, making numerous changes in preparation for Saturday's on track sessions, which includes qualifying and a race.
“It was a very positive day, we made a lot of changes and made big in-roads,” Seton said.
“The best part of a two hour session is that you can keep to a program.
“Westpoint Racing is very good at drawing up a testing plan and keeping to it. The test days are well organised and so was today's session.
“We were very particular about what we wanted to try today, most of our ideas on how to improve the Ford were correct, which was good.
“I felt that my Ford was better suited to my driving style than at any other stage of the season so far.
“We had better straight line speed and by the end of the session the car was better balanced and stronger that what we started with.”
Seton was delighted to have been so competitive today and is looking for better results tomorrow.
“It was very positive for everyone to have DJR in the top ten, it was just a little disappointing to be outside of it at the end,” Seton said.
“Thirteenth isn't too bad, we are less than four-10th from the lead car, it's a lot here but we think that we'll be faster in qualifying tomorrow.
“I had a full set of new tyres on in the last ten or so minutes of practice but I wasn't able to get the most out of them.
“Pretty much everyone was doing the same and traffic from the pits held me up a bit.
“The positive is that we are confident that we have more speed and that's what's important.”
Seton drove the 13th fastest lap of the day, a 56.20 to be only .39 behind pole. Steve Johnson was 19th, only .04 behind his teammate.
Qualifying starts at 11.30am (NZ time), 9.30am (AEST) followed by a 36 lap race at 3pm (1pm AEST).
Release Date: 15/04/2005
Westpoint Racing - DJR
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