FORD Performance Racing has completed its shakedown of its first Car of the Future Falcon at Winton Motor Raceway today.

After running four laps in single-lap runs yesterday, team drivers Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison both drove the car for the remaining 16 laps today of the permitted 20 given by V8 Supercars for the shakedown of all brand new race cars.

The team then undertook a series of long runs at the request of V8 Supercars technical staff to assist with an evaluation of different specifications of transaxle cooling options.

Team Principal Tim Edwards declared himself happy with the shakedown, describing it as having unfolded better than anticipated.

“It has been an unbelievably successful day and everything ran as well as we could’ve planned, if not better,” he said.

“The rest of the shakedown this morning went fine and Will got his first chance to drive the car before we did 80 laps for the category so they could evaluate some transaxle cooling options.

“This information will be passed onto the other teams and I must say all three options ran successfully and potentially could all be used at the first race next year.”

Winterbottom conducted the majority of the day’s running and was pleased all the team’s hard work leading up to the last two days provided such a strong starting point.

“The great thing about our team is they gave me a car which was perfect ergonomically so everything was positioned correctly allowing me to make the most of the limited time with the car,” he said.

“I was immediately able to concentrate on learning how the car handles differently though I must say I was instantly happy with the gearshift and the brakes are a lot better so we made the most of our shakedown today.

“I also did two long runs so it is pleasing to know from the outset the car can do a lot of laps without issue.

“The additional laps we did for the category will provide them with information which will benefit all the other teams and assist with their development so it was well worth waiting to do our first runs with the final specification package.”

FPR will conduct its first full test day with the COTF Falcon next Monday,  September 10, at Winton ahead of the Dick Smith Sandown 500.