Motorsport: TeamVodafone off to a flyer

Jamie Whincup during V8 Supercars practice in Abu Dhabi driving TeamVodafone's new Holden Commodore. Photo / Getty Images

ABU DHABI - TeamVodafone hasn't lost any speed following the switch from Ford to Holden for the new V8 Supercars season, beginning this weekend at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Reigning champion Jamie Whincup topped the timesheets in the Friday's third 40-minute practice session and would have led the pack at the end of the day if his one minute 58.099 second lap in the fourth and final session hadn't been scrubbed after he was ruled to have cut a corner.

That meant the day's fastest driver was young Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen, who clocked a 1:58.223 in his Stone Brothers Racing Falcon, ahead of Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes (1:58.372) and Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom (1:58.526).

Drivers were buzzing after their first taste of the spectacular Yas Marina circuit, which features an off-camber left-right-left corkscrew that drops 15 metres over 100 metres.

"It's pretty cool, it's got a bit of everything," said Ford driver Van Gisbergen.

"At the end there it cooled down pretty quickly when the sun went down, our second last run I had the sun in my eyes and the next one the lights were on. I haven't had that anywhere else."

Two-time champion Whincup also gave the track his approval before claiming the bendy pit lane tunnel could cause grief in Friday and Saturday's 200km races for those not fully concentrating.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone has a rub of the wall down there or stops, I just hope it's not me," he said.

"Couldn't be happier with the track, it's awesome to drive around. Once the sun goes down, the kerbs, the grip level, the combinations of left to right, it's really, really good to drive."

The 2010 V8 Supercar season begins on Friday with a qualifying session and top-10 shootout in the afternoon before the first of two 200km races for this weekend starts at 6.05pm (3.05am Saturday NZT).

- AAP cw