Asian Motor Sports

New Zealand V8 Supercar drivers Jason Richards and Greg Murphy are giving Tasman Motorsport’s new VE Commodore the ‘thumbs up’ after its first shakedown test.

Richards and new team-mate Murphy completed just over 60 laps of the 3.0km Winton Motor Raceway circuit in north-east Victoria on Tuesday, the test proving trouble free.

New Zealanders will get their first glimpse of the car at Pukekohe on April 22 - the final time that V8 Supercars will be seen at the famous circuit.

“First time out of the box the VE Commodore was a pretty impressive car,” Richards said.

“We set our quickest time of the day on just our sixth lap, but lap times weren’t the objective of the day - the test was all about shaking down the new car.

“There’s no doubt, though, that Holden’s new VE Commodore be a competitive package.”

Four-time Bathurst winner Murphy, pulling his Tasman Motorsport driving suit on for the first time since signing with the team late last year, said the new generation Commodore was the first new chassis he had driven in over five years.

“The new VE Commodore was definitely a significant change in comparison to what I’ve been used, probably more so because it is a new chassis and I haven’t had a new chassis since the end of 2001,” Murphy said.

“Yesterday was very much a shakedown for the car and getting to know the team for me, which was good.

“There’s a lot to build on and we are all pretty excited about Adelaide.”

A second VE Commodore is nearing completion at Tasman Motorsport’s Melbourne-based workshops and will be wheeled out in time for the first round of the V8 series.

The 2007 V8 Supercar Championship gets underway with the Clipsal 500 street race in Adelaide next week.