The off-season seems to be getting shorter and shorter every year
– this time the gap between the last race of 2006 and the first of 2007 is only
just over 11 weeks. Sounds like a fair amount of time for some well-earned
‘R&R’ but for the teams there hasn’t really been an off-season.
You would have thought that after winning the driver and team
championships, the Toll HSV dealer team would be allowed some time to bask in
its victory and relax, but this is far from the case. Instead of resting on its
laurels the team has been working flat out all summer getting ready for
2007.
Considering the controversial end to the drivers’ championship,
the whole team is more determined than ever to get back-to-back championships,
and this time convincingly. After winning the teams’ championship last year we
know we are one of the best teams in pitlane; this year we want to back that up
yet again.
So the engineers have been going over all the data we collected
throughout the year to see if they can find where we can improve car speed and
performance. They’ve studied all the footage from every race to see what we did
right as a team, in terms of pit stops and strategies, and where there’s work to
be done.
The engines have been refreshed, parts checked for wear and
damage, panels freshly painted – but the list of things to do now, while they
have the time, is endless. Probably the biggest thing happening in our team,
however, has been the building of the new VE series race cars.
For 2007 Rick and I will each get a brand-new VE commodore to
race, and this is a first for our team – to start the year with two brand-new
cars. As the VE is a completely new base to start from, there are a couple of
things that have to be modified for parity reasons. Other than that, there has
been a lot of development work going on for the past few months to ensure that
these cars will be fast straight out of the box.
To win the championships again this year we cannot afford to spend the first
few rounds coming to grips with the new cars. Everyone in the team – Rick and I
included – must have our heads around these cars before the first round, so we
can pick up from where we left off in 2006. At the time of writing this I am yet
to drive my new car, but I’m really looking forward to it. We have some test
days scheduled for just before the first round so we can get rid of any
new-car-gremlins, but it won’t be until qualifying at Clipsal that we’ll know
for sure whether our new weapons are just that. – GT
