Surfers Paradise: Tony D'Alberto qualifying report

D'ALBERTO'S FIRST LOOK AT SURFERS STREET CIRCUIT

Tony D'Alberto had his first look at the Gold Coast INDY circuit today from the driver's seat of his Rod Nash Racing Commodore as Round 11 of the V8 Supercars got underway.

Tony knew that it would be a steep learning curve at the concrete-line circuit which boasts some of the toughest braking of the series.

With just two practice sessions to acclimatise to the circuit Tony set about gathering data and knowledge from the get go.

"The circuit is different to any other we race on, the walls seem closer and there is absolutely no room for error."

In hot conditions Tony was making strong headway in the second practice session but struggled with overheating tyres.

The afternoon qualifying was affected by cooling temperatures which made it difficult to get tyre temperature during the session.

"We didn't quite get the tyre pressures right for the conditions and I just couldn't get any grip out there," Tony said.

Tony ended up 27th in qualifying which is where he will start from for tomorrow's race 1.

"We now have a pretty good idea of what we need to do to move up the grid tomorrow."

The team also welcomes a new sponsor, Hertz Car Sales, who have come on board for the rest of the year.

"As with all our sponsors we are extremely appreciative of their support and we will be doing our best to give them strong results," Tony said.

-credit: tonyd.com.au