The test day is a chance for drivers and teams to get ready for the Armor All Gold Coast 600 at the Surfers Paradise street circuit this weekend.
KELLY RACING QUOTEBOARD
RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore:
"It was a very exciting day for us," said Rick Kelly.
"The first time I met Jörg was yesterday just after he arrived at the airport.
"It's great for us to have these professionals here to share our Jack Daniel's Commodores.
"Today was a bit of an eye opener for Jörg and myself. His capabilities are massive but he had to spend today learning what our cars handle like and they are very different to what he is used to.
"We are both very tired at the end of the day because of all the work we have done today. We have done a lot of laps and got Jörg up to speed as much as we could.
"We will come away from today well prepared for the weekend. We have done everything from race runs, practice starts and driver changes so we've run through a very big plan and got Jörg to learn practically the entire category in one day."
JÖRG BERGMEISTER - #15 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore:
"I didn't really know what to expect so it's good to get my first drive in the Jack Daniel's V8 Supercar," said Jörg Bergmeister.
"I think I am still coming to grips with it all in terms of getting used to these cars.
"Today I was changing my way of driving the car. It's lot different to what I am used to with a spool (differential).
"Usually with my car you always want to get back on the power early but in this car you have to wait.
"So I'm trying to learn as much as I can and we are making progress. It's getting better and better with every session."
TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore:
"There are just so many things to learn for Richard and Jörg today," said Todd Kelly.
"Driving these cars is a massive task on its own. Given that these drivers just arrived in the country, its a big ask.
"You've got to unplug radios, cool suits, find neutral in the gearbox, do your own belts up, open the window net to get out, help your team mate in - all that happens in the space of 11 seconds and that's just in a pit stop.
"Just learning the procedures to get that down pat in basically three quarters of a day is a big ask so their heads are spinning at the moment.
"Luckily these guys in our Jack Daniel's car are some of the best professional drivers from around the globe, so they are doing a great job.
"They did a very good job today considering what they were up against. I'm really looking forward to seeing them get on track down on the Gold Coast because I think they will both do a sensational job."
RICHARD WESTBROOK - #7 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore:
"It's a big culture shock but very, very enjoyable," said Richard Westbrook.
"I'm really enjoying working with the Jack Daniel's Racing guys and everyone in the team has made me very welcome.
"The car is completely different to what I'm used to.
"I have so much respect for these guys. It's a real art to drive these cars. There is a special technique. These drivers that do this series year in, year out I think they are incredible
"It's a very tough car to drive and I've already invited Todd to drive my car in Europe - it's much easier than this!
"It's a really challenge and it's a challenge that I'm enjoying. It's going to get harder when we get on the streets.
"It was great to come here for a day to learn with everyone, work with the engineers and get to know everyone on the team and the car itself.
"Most importantly I'm getting to know the tyres. That seems to be the key thing in getting your head around these cars."
GREG MURPHY - #11 Pepsi Max Holden Commodore:
"It's very hard for the international guys today," said Greg Murphy.
"Some of them have got a lot of experience in our cars and others are driving them for the first time. Olly is one of those and so are Richard and Jörg.
"Everyone has different tyres and for the overseas guys they are having to learn our cars on really old rubber, so it's a really long, tough day of testing for them.
"We've had literally no good tyres to use today so we are just doing our best and learning all we can. We are really looking forward to getting into the weekend where things will be more even with our race allocation of soft tyres."
OLIVER GAVIN - #11 Pepsi Max Holden Commodore:
"Today has been great to get in the Pepsi Max car and see exactly what I'm going to experience over the weekend on the Gold Coast," said Oliver Gavin.
"It's been super-useful to get to know Greg a bit more and understand how the team works and how these tyres work. I think that is going to be the key to success at the Gold Coast, working the tyres well and making them last.
"Unfortunately we were handicapped today by only having hard tyres. We had one set of very, very old set of softy tyres we can run at the end of the day.
"The times sheets don't mean anything today. We haven't forgotten how to drive and the car is good, but we just didn't have any good tyres.
"Today was about learning. Now I'm really looking forward to getting onto new tyres when we get to the Gold Coast."
DAVID REYNOLDS - #16 Stratco Holden Commodore:
"So far, so good for us in the Stratco car," said David Reynolds.
"There is a bit of a height distance between me and Tags so we are going to pour a new seat and get him more comfortable in the car.
"Tags wasn't too comfortable in the car today so I feel sorry for him a little. He hasn't done a huge amount of laps today while we have tried a few different things but he has done plenty of laps in a V8 Supercar before.
"He only arrived this morning from the US, he came straight from the airport. Our tyres are not the best but today is just for him to work through things and get ready for the weekend.
"It's a massive effort just for Tags to be here. I gave him a big hug when he arrived this morning to make him feel welcome.
"I hope it's good for him just to concentrate on something else because he is going through a tough time at the moment. Our entire team wants to do the very best we can to help Tags."
ALEX TAGLIANI - #16 Stratco Holden Commodore:
"I think today was very positive," said Alex Tagliani.
"We were down in America and with what happened over the weekend in Las Vegas, I think it was good for Bronte to get away from the atmosphere down there and for me personally it's kind of the same.
"As soon as you get back into a car and you're in racing mode you don't think that much and I think in this particular situation the less you think the better it is.
"I was quite happy that it turned out that as soon as we got off the plane we went straight to the track to go testing.
"For sure the long flight makes you tired but it was good to see the Kelly boys and we had a pretty good day of testing with David.
"Hopefully we can get good results this weekend.
"The most important thing to do now is the seat. I didn't have the chance to come as early as last year and I didn't have a seat done for the car.
"We haven't practiced driver changes yet. Tomorrow we will mould an insert for the seat and do some driver change practice.
"In regards to the car set-up, this is a very unique format. It's still a championship race. It will still count for the regular driver, so when you're a team-mate and you split the car for an enduro race, you basically just want to adapt as much as you can."
2011 V8 Supercars Championship Drivers Points Standings after Race 20 of 28 1. Craig Lowndes 2329 2. Jamie Whincup 2229 3. Shane Van Gisbergen 1895 4. Garth Tander 1848 5. Mark Winterbottom 1687 6. Will Davison 1646 7. Rick Kelly 1638 8. Jason Bright 1502 9. Alex Davison 1448 10. Steven Johnson 1411 13. Greg Murphy 1294 18. David Reynolds 1072 24. Todd Kelly 923
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