Van Gisbergen shakes down new Commodore

The new car, nicknamed Lola, will make its competitive debut in Darwin in just under a fortnight.

Today it made its track debut, van Gisbergen completing 60 kilometres of running at QR to shake the car down.

“It was a problem-free day,” he told Motorsport.com.

“Just general system checks and shaking everything down. It felt nice; we had no issues at all.

“The car feels tight and stiff. Everything is new so it will take a bit to break in, but it certainly feels responsive. The old car had done a few miles, it was pretty old, so it’s good to get my hands on a new one.”

The car has been built up from a Triple Eight chassis, a reflection of the close technical alliance between T8 and Tekno Autosports. According to van Gisbergen, having a new car to build up has given the Tekno crew a chance to improve on their own input to the final product.

“It’s exciting for the guys. They get to work on something new, and make some new parts that are better than the ones they originally made, because they know the car so much better now.

“Speaking to them, they’re all happy with how its been built. It’s exactly how they want it to be.”