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Kurt Busch and James Courtney, champions in their respective NASCAR and Australian V8 Supercar series, got a taste of each other's race cars on Tuesday at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin Texas.
The Australian V8 Supercar is 400lbs lighter than a Sprint Cup car, but only has 650 horsepower compared to 950 in NASCAR. The NASCAR was faster accelerating in a straight line but the V8 Supercar far quicker through corners, making it a relatively equal contest between the two.
Furniture Row-Racing's Busch had to adapt to sitting on the wrong side of the car, a sequential shift gearbox and a dramatically smaller steering wheel. For Courtney, he also found himself on the other side of the car from what he is used to and having to revert to using an H-pattern gearbox that hasn't been used in V8 Supercars in 2007.
"It's amazing, there are similarities and differences between the two cars," Busch said. "Sitting on the right side, shifting a bunch of gears with my left arm, you're not in your comfort zone and it's hard to understand what task of the car is next until you start checking things off your list that you learn the racetrack as well."
"So there were quite a few things going on. Information overload, to say the least. But it definitely makes it interesting to drive both cars on the track at the same time. The quickest way I can compare an Australian V8 Supercar to what people are familiar to in the States is it's a muscle car but it's a sports car at the same time."
"Much more power than what you see in the GT classes in the Grand Am series. And the ability, though, for what I see on TV, for these guys to run side-by-side, nose to tail, is the control of the cars, the balance they have makes it a treat to drive," said Busch.
“It was pretty wild sitting on the other side of the car and shifting an H-pattern gearbox,” Courtney said.
“The car was bigger and heavier. It has so much power. It's really quite an experience. It was also quite cool to see blow past the V8 car on the straight. It was really good. I'm forever grateful that the team gave me this opportunity.
“The steering wheel, it feels like it's massive. But to run side-by-side I was pretty nervous because it's moving around a bit more than what I'm used to.
“But the car was excellent. Changing with an H-patter gearbox is different; it's done almost automatically in the car at home so you never think about it. But another thing that is quite different is the braking performance.
“It's built for Speedways, not really road courses. It's a very different machine.”
The Australian V8 Supercar is 400lbs lighter than a Sprint Cup car, but only has 650 horsepower compared to 950 in NASCAR. The NASCAR was faster accelerating in a straight line but the V8 Supercar far quicker through corners, making it a relatively equal contest between the two.
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| Photo: Circuit of the Americas |
Furniture Row-Racing's Busch had to adapt to sitting on the wrong side of the car, a sequential shift gearbox and a dramatically smaller steering wheel. For Courtney, he also found himself on the other side of the car from what he is used to and having to revert to using an H-pattern gearbox that hasn't been used in V8 Supercars in 2007.
"It's amazing, there are similarities and differences between the two cars," Busch said. "Sitting on the right side, shifting a bunch of gears with my left arm, you're not in your comfort zone and it's hard to understand what task of the car is next until you start checking things off your list that you learn the racetrack as well."
"So there were quite a few things going on. Information overload, to say the least. But it definitely makes it interesting to drive both cars on the track at the same time. The quickest way I can compare an Australian V8 Supercar to what people are familiar to in the States is it's a muscle car but it's a sports car at the same time."
"Much more power than what you see in the GT classes in the Grand Am series. And the ability, though, for what I see on TV, for these guys to run side-by-side, nose to tail, is the control of the cars, the balance they have makes it a treat to drive," said Busch.
 |
| Kurt Busch in the V8 Supercar. (Photo: Circuit of the Americas) |
“It was pretty wild sitting on the other side of the car and shifting an H-pattern gearbox,” Courtney said.
“The car was bigger and heavier. It has so much power. It's really quite an experience. It was also quite cool to see blow past the V8 car on the straight. It was really good. I'm forever grateful that the team gave me this opportunity.
“The steering wheel, it feels like it's massive. But to run side-by-side I was pretty nervous because it's moving around a bit more than what I'm used to.
“But the car was excellent. Changing with an H-patter gearbox is different; it's done almost automatically in the car at home so you never think about it. But another thing that is quite different is the braking performance.
“It's built for Speedways, not really road courses. It's a very different machine.”
 |
| Photo: Circuit of the Americas |