Drivers are bracing for the unknown of how their Gen3 Supercars will perform over some potentially very long stints in this weekend’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Supercars has scrapped compulsory pit stops for this year’s enduros and the fuel range in a Gen3 Camaro or Mustang is longer than its Gen2 predecessor.
However, that gain is in part due to a larger fuel cell, of 133 litres versus 111 litres.
Not only will starting fuel loads obviously be heavier if the tank is full, the cell sits higher in a Gen3 car than it did in a Gen2 vehicle.
Furthermore, downforce has been slashed by over 60 percent relative to 2022 levels, meaning the back of the car is less planted; drivers do not have in-car anti-roll bar adjusters any more; and tyres are a step softer at this year’s enduros.
With fuel range tipped to be somewhere around 50 laps, a run from full to empty is likely to be a test of engineering nous and driver adaptability, assuming the super soft rubber even lasts that long.
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“It’s [going to be] very, very difficult,” Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds told Speedcafe.
“You’re trying to save the tyre the whole race, so you’re not driving flat-out, so you might let some people past and then get them back later in the stint.
“The fuel burn’s way less but the tyre is going to wear out before the fuel burn, so we’re going to see a bit of a different race, I think, than we have seen in the past.”
Craig Lowndes, who is driving Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Supercheap Auto Camaro, has made reference several times this year to the lack of anti-roll bars in Gen3.
About what cars will be like with such a heavy fuel load, he told Speedcafe, “Honestly, teams don’t know.
“I think that’s where the knowledge coming out of Sandown will be much better and we’ll know about the longevity, what the fuel load does to the car in the sense of the balance, tyre wear, brake wear… all that side. And, do you have to fuel-save at some point?”
Nulon Racing’s Tim Slade had a similar take to Reynolds, stating, “I think strategy will be a very interesting component this year.
“With no minimum pit stops and being on the super soft tyres, I think there is every chance we will be running out of tyres before we run out of fuel.”
At Walkinshaw Andretti United, Nick Percat is ready to embrace the challenge given how his and team-mate Chaz Mostert’s cars have come on over a stint so far this year.
“We’ve obviously been running all year without the anti-roll bars, which I thought was going to be a bit more of a struggle but we all just get on with it,” the #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang pilot told Speedcafe.
“We all end up with the same kind of issues at the start of a race and some cars come on a little bit quicker over a stint and some look after their tyre a little bit better over the long runs.
“I think from what we’ve seen of our cars this year, especially with Chaz and that late-race pace, I’m kind of keen to see how we go with the big fuel drop and he we go from a real fat, heavy car to nice and light.
“Hopefully it favours us [because] we’ve been pretty good on tyres lately.”
Zak Best, being James Courtney’s co-driver at Tickford Racing, has the added complication of having to get his head around how a Gen3 car performs over a stint in general, let alone at Sandown.
He identified the throttle mapping as one tool at his disposal in the #5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang.
“You’ve got the throttle mapping tool to use; that’s probably the only real thing you can use,” explained Best to Speedcafe.
“I think it’s just [a case of] not going too hard too early. I guess you’ll see a few people following each other at the start of stints and stuff.
“Obviously for us co-drivers, none of us really know what to expect because we’ve never done a race in these cars yet, so it could be a very interesting Sandown.”
Practice 1 starts tomorrow at 10:45 local time/AEST.
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