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Brabham shakes down new Panoz

David Brabham drove next year's Panoz Le Mans challenger for the first time at Silverstone last week and was suitably impressed by the V8-engined prototype

On the damp Northamptonshire track, the all-new car ran in anger for the first time and while the Australian sportscar ace felt the car was a vast improvement on last year's Roadster S, much development is required to make the car race ready.

"My initial impression is that the car has enormous potential," said Brabham. "Everything about it is an improvement from last year. The driveability of the new Panoz engine is great. It's progressive on the throttle and I'm sure that by the time we race, the engine will surprise a few people.

"The track was cold and we weren't able to get any heat into the tyres, so I'm looking forward to testing in America where temperatures will be warmer. We can start to work on the chassis and aerodynamics."

Although built to challenge for honours in next year's American Le Mans Series, the 2001 Panoz will get it's first race outing at this year's ALMS finale in Adelaide on New Years' Eve.

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