Drivers unhappy with “crazy” co-driver ban

Chaz Mostert has labelled a potential move from Supercars to ban co-drivers from starting endurance races as “crazy”.

It came to light today that the Supercars Board will vote on a long-rumoured rule to effectively ban co-drivers from starting the two-driver races.

The idea is to ensure the big-name primary drivers are in the car during what is a peak broadcast moment rather than the usually lesser-known co-drivers.

Supercars has confirmed that the concept has been green-lit by the Commission, despite not being universally popular among the team bosses.

The same goes for the drivers, Mostert particularly strong on the matter when quizzed about it after topping a wet Practice 1 today.

“I’ll say my piece – I don’t like it,” said the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver.

“I think it’s pretty crazy. We’re going to an enduro race, and we all talk about the strategy, and you take an actual strategy element out of the race and tell everyone that you need to start with your main drivers.

“It makes it hard to do anything different than everybody else, especially if you’re out of position and you’ve got a better race car. You just end up doing the same strategy as everybody else and the racing will be placid.

“I think when you see main [drivers] up against [co-drivers], and you see action, you see moves. And you really watch the co-drivers thrown in the thick of it, and they really step up and show that they’ve still got plenty of fight with their main drivers.

“It’s great for the enduro season

“So me, personally, I think it’s pretty crazy. We’ve got some of the best co-drivers in the world. And they’re more than capable at doing starts and they’ve been doing starts for years and years.”

Brad Jones Racing driver Andre Heimgartner agreed that it ruins a key strategic element.

“Sometimes when you drive to the grid, you’re driving to the grid, but you’re not starting but you don’t want to give it away,” he said. “And everyone’s playing that game. So if they take that away, it’s going to be a bit boring.”

Grove Racing’s Matt Payne added: “Totally agree with Chaz. I think it’s nice to see the co-drivers get in and have a crack.

“I had Kevin [Estre] this year and he was struggling a little bit in the practices but in the race he just did an amazing job and he stepped right up. It’s cool to see and it’s good fun. I think the racing is really good between the mix of the two guys.”