Craig Lowndes’ engineer Jeromy Moore says that stacking behind team-mate Jamie Whincup will be a “definite no-go” in Sydney’s championship finale.
The requirement for V8 Supercars teams to share a pitboom between their two cars has caused a series of high profile delays for the Triple Eight pair in recent years.
Whincup’s often superior qualifying speed has seen Lowndes regularly cop the rough end of the stacking equation; most recently during October’s Armor All Gold Coast 600.
All cars will have to make two compulsory pitstops in each leg of the Sydney 500, with stacking again likely to be seen if a Safety Car falls at an inopportune moment.
Although following the team car into pitlane is often seen as a better alternative to restarting from a Safety Car at the front without having pitted at all, Moore says that taking the latter risk will be the only option in the deciding race.
“Ideally, we won’t be in that position and would be leading on the track, but if it were to come down to that scenario we won’t be stacking,” he told the Red Bull website.
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“You have to risk it because you know you’re going to take pain and you won’t have a chance to get back in front of him if you stack.
“In that case, if there is a Safety Car and Jamie pits, we have to stay out and go as hard as we can and hope for another Safety Car to win by a different strategy.
“We’ve got to beat him and we can’t beat him by lining up behind him in pitlane.”
Moore promises that his side of the garage’s increased willingness to take risks will also be transferred to the track itself, provided that Mark Winterbottom – who enters the weekend 124 points from the lead – is not a title threat.
“Craig would take more of a risk than if it were a normal round,” he said of racing wheel-to-wheel with Whincup.
“If Frosty was out of the equation and Red Bull was to finish one-two regardless of what happened – without taking each other out – I think he’d be having second thoughts other than just sitting behind him, that’s for sure.
“But the move certainly wouldn’t happen if Frosty was leading and we were battling for 10th.
“The last thing we want is for our drivers to come together and allow Frosty to come through and do a Steven Bradbury and take the win.”
Winterbottom’s team-mate Will Davison is also a mathematical title contender, albeit 223 from the pace with just 300 left available.
