Yoong, McIntyre To Test For WPS Racing
22/6/2004 23:53 (Press Release) -
Ex-Formula One driver Alex Yoong and Kiwi star John McIntyre will add an international flavour to WPS Racing’s final test session ahead of the sixth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
The test day, set down for June 24, is at WPS Racing’s home track of Queensland Raceway – the same venue that will house the Queensland 300 the following week.
Yoong and McIntyre will join WPS drivers David Besnard and Mark Noske in the test session.
Besnard and Noske will trial various improvements to their car setups, while Yoong and McIntyre will slot in late in the session to test for a place in future endurance races for WPS.
WPS Racing team manager Keith Evers said a final decision on the team’s endurance drivers is expected to be made shortly after the test day.
“We are only giving the endurance guys one hour to get it together, so they will have to really work at it,” said Evers.
“We have too much to achieve on the day to give them any more time.”
Yoong is currently gaining experience in the V8 category through a three-drive deal in the Konica Minolta Series.
The 27-year-old Malaysian, the sone of a former professional racing driver, has a celebrated history in motorsport.
He began racing motorcross at age eight and went on to become a teenage driving sensation in Asia before shifting to Europe to race in categories including the British Formula Renault Sport Championships, the British Formula 3 Championships, the Italian Formula 3000 and the International Formula 3000 Championships.
In 2001 he joined the European Minardi Formula One team and became the first Malaysian F1 competitor and the first Asian non-Japanese F1 driver in nearly half a century.
His top place in Formula One was a 7th in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
In 2003 he also competed in the US Champ Car World Series.
His co-test driver, Kiwi John McIntyre, also has a proud history in the sport.
He is a former winner of the NZ Motor Sports Person of the Year (young male) award and has a string of race wins and pole positions in categories including NZ V8 Touring Cars and Tranzams.
McIntyre has already had one other test session with WPS Racing.
Meanwhile, Besnard and Noske will use the same test day to help the team further enhance performance of its two Ford BA Falcons.
Various modifications to the cars were tested during the final day’s racing in the last round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Perth last week.
“We will continue to develop that set up as there were noticeable handling improvements in Perth,” said Evers.
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