Rullo unscathed after incident-filled Winton test

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport new signing Alex Rullo has endured an eventful test day which was brought to a premature end at Winton.

The Melbourne squad used the outing to offer new signing Rullo valuable track time as he prepares to become the youngest driver to contest the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

Rullo lost track time during the morning when he suffered a crash at Turn 4 which stopped the session for 20 minutes while repairs were made to the barriers.

The 16-year-old, who received a Superlicence dispensation from CAMS last week, emerged from the incident unscathed and returned to the track in his repaired Commodore later in the morning.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

After a strong stint of lap times, he then suffered another off-track excursion at Turn 2 which called time on the test.

Although his day was interrupted, the Perth teenager feels he is making progress ahead of his leap to the main game.

“It was more of a shakedown day to be honest and the track wasn’t the best, it was really hot here and I had a few excursions,” Rullo told Speedcafe.com.

“Beside that everything ran really good and all the boys were working well.

“There were a lot more positives than negatives.

“I wouldn’t say I was pushing too hard but the track was really off and we had a lot of push in the car, and a combination of those things put me on the marbles.

“It was just one of those things and it was unfortunate to happen on a test day.

“It happens to everyone at times and there are a lot worse shunts that could happen.

“It was a fairly minor incident so we will just push on.”

Matt Chahda piloted the team’s sister car with the identity of the squad’s second drive still unclear after CAMS rejected a Superlicence dispensation, effectively blocking him from taking the seat.

Shortly after Rullo returned to the track in the morning, Chahda’s car came to a halt on the circuit with a suspected electrical fault that forced track staff to extinguish a small fire.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport shared the rural Victorian circuit with Prodrive Racing Australia, who used the opportunity to shake down Mark Winterbottom’s new FG X.

The 2015 Supercars champion enjoyed a relatively trouble free 60km run which also allowed the 35-year-old to work with new engineer Brendan Hogan.

“There were a few little gremlins that you get when you have a new car,” Winterbottom told Speedcafe.com

“The point of the day is to fix some of them. The guys did a good job. We just had to get all the comfort things right.

“I got to work with my new guys so it was good to listen to Brendan on the radio. I’ve got a new number one and number two mechanic.

“They have all been at the team but they haven’t been on my car.”

Dunlop Super2 Series teams Eggleston Motorsport and Brad Jones Racing were also in action at Winton.