We arrived in Queenstown last night and then traveled down to Cromwell where Round 1 of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series is being held at Highlands Motorsport Park. The scenery around the circuit is quite spectacular, surrounded by mountains – some even still with a little snow on top which is surprising for summer.
It was great to get down to the track today and meet Bruin Beasley and the team, including my engineer for the series, David de la Fuente Cainzos from Spain and Mechanics Thomas Guerineau from France and Harry Ryan from Australia. All are very friendly and professional so I am feeling very comfortable and confident with the team around me.
Most of the day was spent fitting the car to me with pedal positioning and the “pouring” of a seat. Late in the day though we were able to complete a track walk and get my first look at the track other than the vision I have studied over recent weeks.
My first impressions of the track are that it looks like it is going to be a very enjoyable one to drive. A bit of everything with fast high G sections, quick chicanes and a couple of very tight slower corners which should present good opportunities for overtaking.
Tomorrow we are at the track again, mainly for commitments with the series, though we will continue our preparation for the first day of practice Thursday.
Looking forward to getting in the car!
