Asian Motor Sports

Confidence is high with the IRWIN Racing duo of Marcus Marshall and Matt Halliday as they head to Australia’s biggest motor race, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

A range of improvements have been made to the IRWIN Ford heading to Bathurst, but it’s the overall strength of the package that has Marshall excited heading to Mount Panorama.

“We will take a very good package to Bathurst,” said Marshall.

“The whole team has been improving throughout the year and with some extra items coming on-line for Bathurst we expect to be challenging for a spot in the top-10.

“We will need to be patient. 161-laps around Mount Panorama is a long day and any mistake is usually punished against a concrete barrier. The key is to keep it clean throughout the entire race.”

Halliday has forged a strong reputation in V8s circles as a long-distance race specialist. The ultra-experienced Kiwi has enjoyed his lead-up to Bathurst with the IRWIN team.

“Bring on Bathurst,” said Halliday.

“Going to a track I clearly enjoy in a car and team that I feel comfortable with, has me feeling very confident of a strong result.

“Marcus and I are on the same page with how we like the car and that is sure to be of great benefit throughout the entire race.”

IRWIN Racing Engineer Marcus Clarke has overseen the team’s preparations for Bathurst.

“Our preparation for Bathurst has been excellent,” said Clarke.

“Our focus will be on the race, but we would like to qualify inside the top-half of the field as well.

“All-up, we are confident of being towards the front come the end of the race.”

IRWIN Racing will be on track from Thursday for practice, with another practice and qualifying session on Friday. Saturday includes practice and the top-10 shootout. Sunday starts early with a 20-minute warm-up with the 161-lap 1000-kilometre race set to start at 10.30am.