Nissan Motorsport’s Norton Hornets will sport revised liveries at Sydney Motorsport Park as the team aims to build on its impressive Queensland Raceway form.
Antivirus software company Norton will use this SMP 400 and following Wilson Security Sandown 500 to promote a new backup recovery product on Michael Caruso’s #36 entry.
James Moffat’s #360 Altima retains its yellow hues but now sports ‘Norton 360 Multi-Device’ branding.
The performance of the Nissans looms as one of the greatest unknowns heading to Sydney after Caruso and Moffat both proved race winning threats at Queensland Raceway.
Caruso crashed out of contention while attempting a pass for the lead on Saturday, while Moffat scored pole for the Sunday race, in which he finished fifth.
The results were put down to set-up gains for the cars, which are not scheduled to see much-publicised engine upgrades until Sandown.
Having languished outside the top 20 in Saturday qualifying at Ipswich prior to adopting Caruso’s set-up, Moffat says he’s hoping for a more consistent weekend.
“We need to continue the good form we showed on Sunday at Queensland Raceway and keep that going,” said Moffat.
“The speed that Michael (Caruso) showed on Saturday and the speed we had on Sunday was encouraging for the team, but for me personally, we just need to have a week where we are consistent, because I don’t feel we’ve put together a whole weekend yet.
“We need to make sure we have two consistent strong competitive days to bag some good points before we head to the endurance races.”
Moffat says he’s looking forward to the two-day Sydney format, which sees two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions and two races packed into the Saturday schedule.
“I think the two-day format is a good thing,” he said.
“We had that same format a couple of years ago at Sydney Motorsport Park and I liked it.
“There was plenty of on-track action for the fans, but on the flip side, it puts a bit of extra pressure on the teams to make sure the car rolls out of the truck as close to the money as you can.
“The shortened format means you need to be on top of your game from the get-go, because if you’re not you’ll be on the back foot and it will take you most of Saturday to get back on the game.”