V8DSD: Mark McNally Winton preview

FIRST HOME RACE FOR McNALLY AT WINTON

Mark McNally will head to Winton Raceway this weekend in what will be his first home track event in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

After joining the Series at Queensland Raceway for Round 3 in 2006, this weekend will also mark the beginning of Mark's second full season in the Series.

"It is good to have a full season under my belt," Mark said.

"It will make a big difference to be racing at a track that I have prior V8 knowledge.

"I have driven hundreds of laps at Winton in testing; it will be great to attack the circuit under racing conditions.

Mark completed a successful test day last week at the regional Victorian circuit in preparation for this weekend.

Limited tyre availability, due to rule restrictions, made it necessary for Mark to concentrate on race distance set-up rather than outright lap times.

"We completed an entire simulated race meeting, the same distances that we will do this weekend," Mark said.

"After completing two 14-lap races and a 25-lap race we were able to collect some important data that we don't usually get on race day."

Mark is under no illusion that, Winton being his home track, it will be an easier event than any other round.

"Winton is a very technical track and it is hard to pass on," he said.

"It will be important to qualify well, which is something we will be focusing on.

"The competition is so strong that we cannot think that the task will be made any easier because Winton is our home track; there is no such thing as an easy round in this series," he said.

On-track activities include Friday practice, Qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, and Races 2 and 3 on Sunday.

-credit: www.markmcnally.com.au