KEY POINTS:
New Zealand V8 Supercar drivers Jason Richards and Greg Murphy have given Tasman Motorsport's new VE Commodore the thumbs up after its first shakedown test.
Richards and new teammate Murphy completed just over 60 laps of the 3.0km Winton Motor Raceway circuit in north-east Victoria yesterday, the test proving trouble free.
New Zealanders will get their first glimpse of the car at the Pukekohe round of the V8 championship at Pukekohe on April 20-22.
"First time out of the box the VE Commodore was a pretty impressive car," Richards said.
"We set our quickest time of the day on just our sixth lap, but lap times weren't the objective of the day -- the test was all about shaking down the new car.
"There's no doubt, though, that Holden's new VE Commodore be a competitive package."
Four-time Bathurst winner Murphy, pulling his Tasman Motorsport driving suit on for the first time since signing with the team late last year, said the new generation Commodore was the first new chassis he had driven in over five years.
"(It) was definitely a significant change in comparison to what I've been used to, probably more so because it is a new chassis and I haven't had a new chassis since the end of 2001," Murphy said.
"Yesterday was very much a shakedown for the car and getting to know the team for me, which was good."
The V8 Supercar Championship gets underway with the Clipsal 500 street race in Adelaide next week.
- NZPA
