Compulsory stops ratified for Sandown, Bathurst

The V8 Supercars Commission has today ratified the introduction of compulsory pitstops for the Wilson Security Sandown 500 and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The move has been made just two days prior to the start of the Sandown meeting and is designed to help those still struggling with fuel economy.

V8 Supercars this year introduced a compulsory fuel drop for all non-Pirtek Enduro Cup events, but had left any fuel parity measure out of the Operations Manual for the longer races.

A lack of compulsory stops in the supplementary regulations is said to have surprised several teams, prompting the late Commission discussion.

Four stops will be compulsory at Sandown while seven will be seen at Bathurst, mirroring the rules for the 2013 events.

“The technical department assessed the available data and determined a variation in fuel usage of as much as 13 per cent from the best to worst at some circuits, so V8 Supercars endorsed the request made by the teams and the compulsory pit stops have been mandated by the Commission,” confirmed V8 Supercars sports and operations director Damien White.

A compulsory 550mm fuel drop will meanwhile be introduced for the third Pirtek Enduro Cup event, the Castrol Edge Gold Coast 600, which features two 300km races.

The news is likely to be of most benefit to Nissan and the new-for-2014 Volvo Polestar engines, which are yet to tackle an endurance event.