Work is taking place to reconstruct the tyre barrier on the outside of Turn 2, the uphill right-hander known as Griffins Bend.
The makeup of the tyre barrier that was installed 20 years ago to protect cars from the concrete wall is no longer considered best practice.
Its reconstruction should prevent a commonly seen occurrence at the corner, according to Motorsport Australia track inspector David Stuart.
“The barrier that’s been removed was constructed to what was accepted as the best method at the time,” Stuart explained to Speedcafe.
“The FIA has undertaken testing on tyre barriers over recent years and determined that a bolted joint between tyres, both vertically and laterally, is the best method of connection to get the barrier to work as a homogenous unit.
“Everyone would have witnessed cars hitting that tyre buffer, particularly on the mid-to-exit, and submarining under the tyres.
“That occurs when they’re not bolted. By bolting them and refacing the conveyer, it should resist cars from being able to submarine.”
The most famous cases of the ‘submarining’ effect occured in the 2014 Bathurst 1000, where the cars that ultimately finished first and second had spent time wedged under the tyre barrier.
Those crashes came due to what was then a brand new track surface breaking up under the strain of the Great Race.
The Griffins Bend barrier replacement is part of a Mount Panorama capital works program outlined by the Bathurst Regional Council earlier this year.
Additional works on the agenda for the future include another full resurface, as well as the renewal of other tyre walls and debris fencing.
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