Ford's all-new Car of the Future, around which its V8 Supercar program will be based from 2013, had its shakedown at Australia's Winton Raceway on Tuesday.
Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom completed a 16-lap shakedown run in the definitive version of the Falcon COTF. He followed this with a series of long runs in order to assist the championship's technical officials with the evaluation of axle cooling systems.
"The great thing about our team is they gave me a car which was perfect ergonomically so everything was positioned correctly allowing me to make the most of the limited time with the car," Winterbottom said. "I was immediately able to concentrate on learning how the car handles differently though I must say I was instantly happy with the gearshift and the brakes are a lot better so we made the most of our shakedown today.
"I also did two long runs so it is pleasing to know from the outset the car can do a lot of laps without issue."
FPR will return to Winton next Monday to complete its first full test with the Falcon.
Ford, its long-term rival Holden and series returnee Nissan will all run cars to the new COTF regulations.