Both Volvo S60s are having a run at Winton Motor Raceway today, as Valvoline GRM uses its second independent test day of the year.
Regular drivers Scott McLaughlin and Robert Dahlgren have been joined by Greg Ritter at the 3km Victorian circuit, with the team “experimenting” with the cars ahead of the final Super Sprint event before the enduros, the Sydney Motorsport Park 400.
Team boss Garry Rogers is not present at the test day, but is in regular contact with his crew on the ground, who were met with great weather for today’s test.
Rogers said the team was working to a plan and that there were no big updates for the day.
“We don’t really need to achieve any whiz bang, scintillating times today. We need to make sure everyone gets enough seat time. The changes we make, we can record those and take some information from that if it’s worthwhile – and if not, throw it in the bin,” he told v8supercars.com.au.
“You can give yourself too many things to get through. We’re not struggling, our cars are good – there are certain things we need to make sure we can have a plan to progress them and make them more durable and that’s what we plan to do.”
When asked if there had been any incidents to hinder the day’s progress, Rogers replied – in his usual jovial manner: “If there has been they haven’t told me! And they’re most likely not to tell me until the day’s over!”
McLaughlin said yesterday the aim was to experiment with setup, and described the test as “vital”.
And while he raised tyre wear as a factor they were grappling with, Rogers dismissed the idea that McLaughlin was burning them up too quickly.
“That’s pit lane scuttlebutt, as it always is. Everyone’s got a theory about how people manage tyres and how they don’t – so we’ve got our own ideas on that and we will deal with that.”
Neither McLaughlin or rookie teammate Dahlgren have raced at the next circuit on the calendar, Sydney Motorsport Park – and McLaughlin is aiming for a strong result in the 200km Sunday race at the upcoming event to improve his Championship position.
McLaughlin currently sits seventh, with fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen his nearest competitor, 185 points ahead in the standings.
