Teams to test today and Wednesday

The majority of V8 Supercars teams are set to test this week ahead of the next event, the SKYCITY Triple Crown, running from June 20-22.

All Melbourne-based teams will run at Winton Motor Raceway today, except for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, which sits out after having had its first test day back in February, prior to the Winton round.

Meanwhile just two Queensland teams are heading to Ipswich on Wednesday, with TEKNO Autosports having tested prior to Perth and Dick Johnson Racing waiting until after the Castrol Townsville 500.

Walkinshaw Racing

Holden Racing Team's James Courtney confirmed there was a lot on the list for Walkinshaw Racing, which is constantly upgrading its the four Commodores.

Three of the team's four co-drivers will be present, with Greg Murphy (partnering Courtney) and Warren Luff (Garth Tander) to jump into the red Commodores, and Tony D'Alberto in the Supercheap Auto Holden.

"There's plenty for us to try, it's good," Courtney told v8supercars.com.au.

"It's our first test day for the year so we've got a lot of stuff to get through and make sure we give our enduro guys - Murph in my car and Luffy in GT's -enough time in the car...

"It's going to be very, very busy for the boys in between us testing stuff, they're also going to be doing a lot of laps with Murph and Luffy, so it's going to be a busy day.

"Pretty sure we're going to start as soon as the gate opens and be running until dark!"

On a recent live chat with v8supercars.com.au, Courtney noted, "The biggest thing we are chasing is engine... Car handling improving all the time."

Ford Performance Racing

Factory rivals FPR will be out on track and has a driver swap on the plans, as well as inviting all four Pirtek Enduro Cup co-drivers.

"It's good to finally have a test day so we can try a few things," The Bottle-O's David Reynolds said.

"I think it's going to be good for the entire team, we've got brand new bits to try to improve our speed and our cars...

"We're always and forever improving and trying new things -we are consistent now, we just need to find another two-tenths of pace.

"Looking at the whole package, we're looking at our engine performance which we do need to improve a little bit and our chassis performance, so if we improve them one or two per cent each way, it helps."

Brad Jones Racing

BJR is hoping to get ahead with its testing schedule, after rain delayed the team several times last year.Coulthard is hoping for better luck this time around -though he knows they can't control the weather.

"Hopefully we can learn a few things and make these BJR cars a bit quicker,"Coulthard said of the test day.

"There (were) a few stickers to go on and things like that, but apart from that the cars are straight (from Perth).

"It gives us enough time to make use of the test day and get a few more parts online sooner."

BJR is behind on development this year because of Jason Bright's rollover at the Clipsal 500 and repairs to Dale Wood's ADVAM Commodore after the Australian Grand Prix.

"We've still got a few gains to find which we know collectively as a group and once we get on top of that, I think we'll be able to get more podiums," Coulthard said.

Both BJR co-drivers Andrew Jones (Bright) and Luke Youlden (Coulthard) will spend time behind the wheel; Wood's co-driver is still to be confirmed.

Nissan Motorsport

While Norton Nissan driver James Moffat identified qualifying as one of the team's key weaknesses, it is something they can only work on to a certain extent during the test day, because of limited new tyres.

"You only qualify on new tyres, so it's very difficult to simulate qualifying in its purest form, if you like, on test days because you don't have the quality of tyres available as per the regulations," the Norton Nissan driver told v8supercars.com.au.

"That's always a challenge for teams, but clearly the test day is really important for us -we need to focus on getting one lap speed out of the car but there are other areas we need to improve on as well.

"I think the number one priority is to try and improve on our qualifying speed, because our cars are more competitive in the races, than when we qualify so we need to start the races further up the field. So it sounds like it's going to be a big busy test day in terms of other teams testing as well -and like probably the majority of those times, we have a number of different items to go through in terms of trying bits and pieces.

"For me I think a test day can't come soon enough. It's very important for us."

All four Nissans will be running, with three of the four co-drivers to be present on the day -all except newly announced international Alex Buncombe.The team has confirmed he will test prior to the Pirtek Enduro Cup, however.

Garry Rogers Motorsport

And finally, Valvoline GRM and its Volvos will run at Winton, with star driver Scott McLaughlin excited to further the team's package.

"One hundred per cent (there's a lot to go through) -mate, we haven't had a test day since Eastern Creek so we've just got to get on top of it," he said.

For teammate rookie Robert Dahlgren, it also provides the opportunity to get some more miles under his belt.

Dahlgren qualified in the top 10 in Perth and is now focusing on his race craft in the category, which is more of a contact sport than he is used to.

"I'm so happy it's been a strong package... if we weren't up to speed and strong, we wouldn't have had time until now to move forward," he said.

The team's open day on Saturday seemed to throw a spanner in the works when planning the test, with Rogers only confirming on Friday that they would head to Winton.

Both co-drivers Alex Premat and Greg Ritter will be present, though the team is yet to announce the official driver pairings.

Wednesday -Erebus Motorsport V8

Erebus team manager Dave Stuart said there were quite a few things the team was looking to go through during the test day.

"There is certainly some things we would like to try suspension-wise from what we have learned from the beginning of the year until now," he said.

"It is very difficult, we went from having two one hour sessions to three 20 minute sessions so you don't get the opportunity to try anything and your tyre quality is not there, so we are really looking forward to testing some things we have been working on and confirming that is the right direction to head.

"We are always looking at engine development and if that is online we would be happy to test it."

Both Erebus co-drivers Craig Baird (Lee Holdsworth) and Alex Davison (brother Will) will run on the day. It will be the first time the Davison duo will share the Mercedes seat.

Wednesday - Triple Eight

On Wednesday, Red Bull Racing Australia will hit the track, and Jamie Whincup described the test as "much needed" as he sits fourth in the Championship.

"We've got a lot of question marks over the stuff we've been doing the last few race meetings so really looking forward to the test day, we need it badly," he told v8supercars.com.au recently.

Both RBRA co-drivers Paul Dumbrell (with Whincup) and Steven Richards (with Craig Lowndes) will participate in the test day.