Symmons Plains: IRWIN Racing Friday report

DAVISON IMPROVES DURING PRACTICE IN TASMANIA

IRWIN Racing's Alex Davison has hit back from brake issues to finish the practice sessions for the Falken Tasmania Challenge at a very cold Symmons Plains Raceway just outside the top-10.

Davison completed the day with the 13th quickest time, after being on the lower end of the time sheets throughout the first two sessions of the day.

Symmons Plains is one of the toughest tracks on brakes, and throughout the opening session Davison was constantly locking the front brakes of the IRWIN Ford.

Improvements were made to the brakes in the second session. The final practice allowed the IRWIN Racing crew to concentrate on improving the chassis balance, with Davison's best time coming on the final lap.

He continued on another faster lap, but a red flag for a car off the circuit ended the final practice session.

To highlight the closeness of the competition, one second separates the top 26 cars!

Tomorrow will feature the elimination styled qualifying format, ahead of the opening the opening 42-lap race.

WHAT ALEX DAVISON HAS TO SAY:

"It is so close here, that you don't need to be that far off to be a long way down the order. We started to make progress with the IRWIN Racing Ford towards the end of practice. Another fast lap and we would have improved a little further. The main thing was that we were locking brakes going into the hairpin at the start of practice. We were trying some different brake parts in the first session, and it didn't work the way we wanted. So we then went to a more conventional set-up, which was the way to go. A few more changes and we will attack in qualifying.

WHAT IRWIN RACING ENGINEER WES McDOUGALL HAS TO SAY:

"We certainly got things moving forward during the second half of the session after a tough start for the IRWIN Falcon. It has been very cold today, but that has not affected things greatly. It has been more about getting on top of the usual challenges that this tricky circuit presents. The brakes are big issue here. The thing is you need brake temperature to get a fast lap in qualifying. Then in the race you need to make sure you don't overuse the brakes. So it is a fine balancing act."

-credit: irwin