PREMIAIR Racing’s off-season investment has extended beyond the recruitment of prominent Supercars engineers Ludo Lacroix and Mirko De Rosa.
Team owner Peter Xiberras has further stretched the budget to provide his revamped engineering department with additional resources as the third-year squad chases a breakthrough podium.
“Having a very strong engineering group as we now have is so important in Supercars, as in essence, everyone has the same toys to play with, so we have to be so critical of how we prepare the cars and how we engineer them, and that once again all starts back at the workshop,” said team manager Stephen Robertson.
“Because of that, we have made large investments in the tools we are using, and when I say tools, I mean analysis software.
“This allows us to compute how the car operates on the track while away from the track, so we know when we are making changes on-track what the car is going to do, how we want to achieve it, and what the end result should be.
“This is so critically important because we do not have time to just pound around and around and around the track to figure out what is going on.
“We do not have the time at events, and we only get three test days a year, which is why test days are so critical.
“This investment in equipment is another core part of our strategy for 2024, and feeds into our confidence that we will be making marked steps forward this season.”
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Further to that, Robertson spoke of the qualities brought to the table by new competition director Lacroix.
“Ludo is a great believer in the performance of the car being gained in the workshop and the way we prepare, so when we get to the track, we have a good base to move forward from,” he explained.
“The changes that have been made in that approach has elevated the way everyone operates within the team.
“We have raised the bar in preparation, and everyone has lifted their game to meet that bar.
“Another thing that Ludo has brought is that he is really great at training people, from mechanics through to the guys that run the team and the guys in the engineering group, he is exceptionally good at showing people not only where the bar should be, but how to get there.
“With having a lot of new people in the team, that has been exceptionally good for them, and even for those that have been here for a long time, it has been really great for them to really have that keen insight into how Ludo works.
“We know how the team needs to operate and what we need to do to go forward into 2024 competitively, and that is a great place to start from ahead of the new season.”
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Drivers Tim Slade and James Golding will continue to fly the flag for PremiAir this year aboard the #23 and #31 Nulon Camaros.
This weekend’s Thrifty Bathurst 500 marks a return to the scene of Golding’s starring qualifying and Top 10 Shootout efforts at last year’s Great Race.
Slade meanwhile is boosted by a De Rosa reunion, having endured a form dip during the back end of 2023.
“Mirko has already proved a massive asset to our team. I am forecasting a solid gain for Tim in his confidence as they build on that familiar relationship and I think we will definitely see improvements this year for the #23,” said Robertson.
Slade and De Rosa previously worked together at the Blanchard Racing Team, their relationship beginning with a front-row start at the 2021 Mount Panorama 500.
