Pye Makes Solid Progress In His Return To V8 Supercars
March 27, 2015
Scott Pye makes solid progress on his return to the V8 Supercars Championship.
Launceston, Tasmania, 27.03.2015. Scott Pye made a strong return to the V8 Supercars Championship in his first outing in the DJR Team Penske / Wurth Ford Falcon FG X today at Symmons Plains. Two sixty minute practice sessions were run in trying weather conditions at the tricky Launceston track.
The day began with cold and wet conditions, and Pye took it in his stride. He was quickly on the pace on a very wet track and finished a creditable 18th place in his first outing for 2015. The team believed that the afternoon session would be dry and it played out that way.
With his first run on the now dry track, Pye was hovering around the bottom of the Top 10 in the Wurth Falcon. A number of set up changes had been planned and Scott was happy with the progress of the day. He was able to compare for the first time the new spec FG X package against the 2014 FG spec car he was used to and reported the braking in particular was an improvement.
As the session rolled on many teams moved their tyre choice to the Dunlop ‘Soft’ slick tyre. The times tumbled, but Pye and his crew continued on the harder of the two compounds gaining valuable data and track time.
A P20 finish in session two was not fully representative of Pye’s performance given the mix of tyres.
No 17 – Scott Pye – Wurth DJR Team Penske Ford Falcon FG X
“It was a tough but good initiation with it being so wet this morning. We stayed with what was effectively a dry set up as the boys were predicating it would fine up. I think we were pretty competitive, up and around the Top 10 for a lot of the first session. I made a couple of mistakes toward the end, probably a bit rusty!
“The second session went pretty smoothly. We had a good program, and I was happy with what we tried. The changes made were definitely able to be felt in the car. It gave me good feedback and a good feel.
“The braking is a big improvement over what we had last year, so overall pretty happy with the car. I think a lot of guys went to the ‘soft’ tyre so maybe P20 is a little further down than were really are in terms of car speed.
“Overall I felt comfortable in the car and it is a credit to the DJR Team Penske boys to turn the car around after Marcos’ announcement to get the ergonomics sorted out for me.”