Halliday concludes successful V8 Supercar test with Irwin Racing

New Zealand racing driver Matt Halliday has concluded a successful test for Australian V8 Supercar team IRWIN RACING. The test was held last Wednesday at Victoria's Winton Motor Raceway ahead of the first endurance race of the 2008 season scheduled to be held at Melbourne's Phillip Island this coming weekend.

Halliday will partner regular driver Marcus Marshall in the Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance races and reports he has already struck a good working relationship with the experienced Australian driver. The test went without incident and Halliday enjoyed the opportunity to familiarise himself with the Britek Motorsport organisation under which the IRWIN RACING campaign is being conducted:

"It was good to get into the Irwin Falcon for the first time and get to work with the whole Britek Team. The test was great and I was quickly on the pace by feeling comfortable with both the car and the Team from the first lap. I am extremely excited about the forthcoming Phillip Island race to see what Marcus and I can achieve" Halliday explained after the full day test.

Britek Motorsport Manager and Race Engineer, Marcus Clarke, was equally enthusiastic about Halliday's debut with the Team:

"Halliday impressed the team with his progress by setting competitive lap times early in the day and also conveyed good engineering feedback to the team engineers. Although not a full time V8 Supercar driver, he has contested the endurance races for the last four years so has gained considerable experience with the Ford teams he has driven with."

Immediately after the test, Halliday returned to his Californian base to continue meeting USA racing teams as he hopes to announce plans for the 2009 racing season soon.