Alan Gurr is set to make his Bahrain bow in this weekend's Desert 400, but the Irwin Racing ace is nevertheless confident of a good result around the circuit that plays host to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Following on from the inaugural event held last year, the V8 Supercar Championship will return to the Middle East kingdom for round twelve on its 14-stop 2007 calendar, with Gurr looking to improve on his best finish of 16th place last time out at Surfers Paradise.
“[It will be] a new experience for me,” the 25-year-old acknowledged, “but being only the second visit for the series it's not as big a disadvantage as other tracks. It will be a total contrast to all the other tracks, and the surroundings in the desert are like no other.
“The impression I get is that it's a very wide track, but you can't be fooled into thinking you have a lot of room as the cars are so evenly-matched. We are keen for a strong result – that would be a great reward for all the work the guys have had to put in over the last month especially.”
The former Australian Super Touring Champion will have a different engineer calling the shots from the pit-lane in Bahrain, as his regular lead engineer Greg Foletta remains at home for the birth of his second child. Data engineer Peter Craik has been promoted to the role for the weekend.
“It has been a very hectic period since Indy,” admitted Craik, who has been overseeing the work since the Gold Coast outing, “and we have a tight schedule to conclude our preparations.
“The track is a total contrast to Indy and Bathurst. Being a modern
Formula 1 track it's wide and has plenty of run-offs. One of the unique features is that the desert that surrounds the track puts a fine layer of sand on the circuit – the front bumpers and especially the windscreens take a pounding, but I'll take that over heavy panel damage any day!
“It's our longest journey of the season, but it will be well worth it with a strong performance.”
