New warpaint to bring change of fortune for Caltex men
9/11/2000 23:12 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - The Stone Brothers-engineered Caltex Havoline Falcon showed-off its new warpaint during a final pre-Bathurst hit out earlier this week ahead of Sunday week’s FAI 1000.
One last test: Final checking of the #9 Falcon was completed at Lakeside in preparation for Bathurst
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The team unveiled the new look at Brisbane’s Lakeside Raceway and is confident it will bring the SBR-stabled Falcon a change in fortune.
Veteran Tony Longhurst will campaign the car with rising V8 star David Besnard.
Testing at the flowing, Bathurst-like Lakeside layout was a confidence-building exercise, SBR say, fine-tuning components for the gruelling Mt Panorama encounter.
"The session was quite positive," Caltex Engineer Campbell Little said. "The car only did about 40 laps but we sorted out a couple of components which will make us extremely competitive at Bathurst."
Many are predicting Bathurst will be the last fans see of Tony Longhurst – a veteran of over 4000 Mt Panorama laps – for some time. Either way, the 43-year-old is looking forward to the challenge.
"Every time I head to Bathurst it's a career highlight, there is nothing else like it. This year is no exception. The car is in great shape and Dave (Besnard) and I are ready to get on with the job," Longhurst, 1988 Bathurst victor, said.
For dashing rookie David Besnard, next week will mark the first time he has driven the celebrated road circuit aboard a V8 Supercar (he has raced Formula Fords at Bathurst previously). But the winner of two V8 Lites rounds earlier this year is more than ready for his Bathurst initiation.
"I can only imagine the big V8s are going to be a handful around Mount Panorama," Besnard said.
"Screaming over the top of the mountain at about 240km/hr, over Skyline and into the Esses and Dipper is going to be exhilarating. The other challenge is going to be negotiating Caltex Chase at 290km/hr and then pulling up to 90km/hr in 140 metres!" an apprehensive but unfazed Besnard said.
The 23-year-old will take the reigns from Tony Longhurst in the Caltex-backed Falcon next season.
The new-look Falcon, together with stable-mate the Craig Baird-Simon Wills piloted Pirtek machine, will be loaded into the SBR transporter early next week for the annual trip to Bathurst. Practice begins on Thursday morning.
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