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Stoner eighth fastest in practice

Casey Stoner says his move from MotoGP to V8s is less of a transition and more of him starting from scratch.

Stoner said while he could take some things from his two-wheeled experience onto four wheels, he was virtually starting new.

But it didn't stop him turning heads on his first day behind the wheel of a V8 in practice sessions of the Dunlop Series at the Clipsal 500 carnival in Adelaide on Thursday.

After stopping the clock at 1:24.8914 for his fastest lap in the first practice session this morning, Stoner shaved more than a second off his time in the second session with a best time of 1:23.4282, giving him the eighth fastest time of the day.

“It’s a lot of fun driving around the streets to be honest, it is a little tricky getting used to hitting curbs and generally just driving in a certain technique,” Stoner said.

“There is a lot of cambers that are different there is manholes, there is all sorts of things to contend with, but in general it has been a lot of fun today.”

“(I am) pretty happy to be honest, we still need to make some improvements with the car, but a lot of it is just me getting used to the track, getting used to the car in this sort of environment.”

Qualifying will be held tomorrow morning ahead of Race 1, which is due to start at 5.35pm on Friday.

After the second session, Dale Wood recorded the fastest lap of the day in the Dunlop Series with a time of 1:22.7301.

Stoner, a two-time MotoGP world champion, said that while some of his knowledge from motorcycle racing will be handy, driving V8s is like starting afresh.

“It is like I am starting again, so I am not really looking at a transition so much as staring from new,” he said.

“I bring a few bits of experience from MotoGP, but two wheels to four is so different I can’t really bring anything across.

“It is pretty much me starting from scratch.”

Stoner said the team is still working on the car and said a podium finish on Friday was ‘a bit of a long shot’.

“I don’t think we can really aim too high at the moment, we will just keep plugging along and see where we go,” he said.

“It is our first time here and we haven’t spent a lot of time in these cars, so we have still got a long way to go forward and a lot to learn.

“We are just sort of taking it step by step and hopefully I don’t end up putting it in the wall anywhere.”