Casey Stoner has sampled his first taste of V8 Supercars at Norwell, Queensland.
The reigning MotoGP champion drove Craig Lowndes’ TeamVodafone machine at the driver training circuit, enjoying a full day of seat time in the car that Lowndes took to victory at the Sydney Telstra 500 two weeks ago.
Stoner was a guest of the Vodafone-backed squad and Bathurst and Sydney this year and has been vocal on his ambition to race in the category when his riding career is over.
The Repsol Honda champion says that his test at Norwell was a dream come true.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was quite young,” Stoner said.
“Just the opportunity to finally get in one and have a go is pretty special to me and I’ve enjoyed it.”
Stoner says that he was surprised at how well the car behaved around the narrow circuit.
“I was surprised how well they absord the kerbs,” he said.
“They are still a stiff race machine, but they do absorb the bumps pretty well. Of course, the power is there, but I have to deal with power myself as well.
“The hardest thing I’ve had to find is changing whatever I know to do with braking and shifting through gears. I really had to rethink things.”
While the Norwell track is not used as a V8 Supercars racing or testing facility, the TeamVodafone squad gave Stoner the ‘real deal,’ offering extensive data and comparisons for him to improve as his test rolled on.
Stoner was blown away with the effort put in by the Roland Dane-run team.
“I was happy to drive anything, to be honest, just to get the opportunity to see what it’s like, but to drive Craig’s car – it won a race a couple of weeks ago – it was very special and I’m very appreciative,” he said.
See below for an image gallery from Stoner’s test
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Foxsports News Report on the Casey Stoner drive