Coulthard gunning for top eight in V8s

Fabian Coulthard says its a special feeling to drive for Dick Johnson and Roger Penske, two icons of motorsport.

Fabian Coulthard.

Fabian Coulthard wants to make an instant splash in his DJR Team Penske Falcon at the Clipsal 500. (AAP)

Fabian Coulthard wants to make an instant splash in his new DJR Team Penske Falcon at the Clipsal 500, beginning the new V8 Supercars season with top-10 finishes.

The Kiwi makes his debut for the expanding cross-continental team around Adelaide's streets this weekend after an off-season move from Brad Jones Racing.

If moving teams wasn't enough, he's also swapped his Commodore for a Falcon and his home state too, moving from Melbourne to the Gold Coast to be close to his new team base.

Months of upheaval will give way to a return to racing on Friday and despite the obstacles, Coulthard is aiming high.

"You do the best you can with the equipment you've got and we've got a lot of new guys," he told AAP.

"Its going to take some learning for us to all gel as a group.

"If we can come away from the weekend with both cars in the top eight, that should be a pretty good start."

In a highly-competitive field, it's hard to know where to place DJR Team Penske.

The outfit struggled early last year, losing comeback champ Marcos Ambrose after struggling through the Clipsal 500 and handing the senior role to Scott Pye.

Pye found it tough to make an impact but broke through for six top-10 finishes in the final nine races including a Pukekohe podium.

In joining the team, Coulthard's only constant might be holding on to engineer Phil Keed.

He's not alone as one of 10 starting entries to have changed teams since the Sydney 500, with two new drivers also joining the series.

But he's the only one to swap his Holden for a Ford and he said plenty of fans had let him know all about it.

"You do cop it," he said.

"I've lost some red fans but gained a hell of a lot of blue fans.

"The following DJR Team Penske has is massive and I've been welcomed with open arms."

Coulthard said the biggest change was his environments, and his new bosses.

"It's a big change, going from a small family-run business to this awesome facility with two icons of motorsport," he said.

"It's pretty special to drive for Dick Johnson and Roger Penske.

"Roger will send me text messages and emails at random.

"He's a racer and always interested to know what's going on, what my thoughts are and how we can make the team better.

"Dick's in at the workshop on most days, so it's two great relationships."


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world