Reynolds happy with early aero insight

Penrite Racing ace David Reynolds and engineer Alistair McVean feel a brief shakedown at Phillip Island will carry double benefits ahead of the new season.

Besides the usual system checks conducted on a new chassis, the 60km outing yesterday gave the team an early insight into the revised aerodynamic package introduced for 2020.

Supercars elected to reduce downforce across the category in order to improve on-track action, allowing cars to follow one another more closely and thus improve the opportunity for overtaking.

Reynolds’ Phillip Island shakedown was his first outing in his modified ZB Commodore, which features the Australian flag on its livery.

“Yesterday was really a day to just iron out any little issues you have with anything new,” Reynolds reported.

“It was a productive day, we got through a lot of stuff and it was good to get some laps back in a Supercar.

“It was really positive and the new car didn’t have any major issues, so we were able to start to get an understanding of the aero package, which is a big change for us this year.”

McVean, also the team’s head of engineering, added: “Yesterday was a good chance to learn the new aero package at a very aero sensitive circuit, so we are very happy with how it went down.

“Initial impressions of the new aero are positive and I think the category has achieved what they set out to achieve.

“It gives us a good head start on understanding those changes before we get to Tailem Bend, and though we still have to add the new dampers to the car, having a bit of knowledge about the aero before we get there is a good thing.”

The team’s first chance to run the new-for-2020 control dampers will come at the BP Ultimate SuperTest on Tuesday ahead of the opening round on the streets of Adelaide next weekend.

Use of the dampers at shakedowns was prohibited to ensure teams with new cars did not gain an early insight into the control components.

Walkinshaw Andretti United also shook down a fresh chassis yesterday for new signing Chaz Mostert, while Shane van Gisbergen and Nick Percat debuted new cars on Tuesday.

Percat’s Brad Jones Racing entry ran in plain black at Winton ahead of a planned livery launch on Friday.