Aussie John Martin warmed up for his Superleague Formula race debut in the Rangers FC car in France this weekend by completing a stunning shakedown of the car at Zolder in Belgium.
The 24-year-old Queenslander completed 21 laps of the 2.5-mile circuit in his first official test of the 750 horsepower, V12 powered car which is being prepared by Alan Docking Racing.
And though the aim of the short test was to perform a system check rather than chase lap times, Martin was delighted with the car’s pace.
“The circuit wasn’t in the best condition because motorbikes had been testing and they lay rubber in weird places around the track,” Martin, who will race in the season’s opener at Magny-Cours in France this weekend, explained today.
“But I got a good lap time that was only about one second off a quick Superleague Formula lap around here, so that wasn’t too bad really.”
Martin, the former A1GP racer, is eager to impress in the championship which sees car represent the major football teams from around the world, including AC Milan, Roma, Liverpool and Galatasaray.
“I am really looking forward to this weekend,” he continued. “As far as cars goes, the car is fun to drive. It has plenty of power with the 4.2 litre V12, the engine sounds awesome. I think fans will be blown away by how good a field of 26 of these cars sound.”
JM