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Drivers are hopeful that they will not have to conserve brakes in today’s 200km Phillip Island feature race despite new regulations introduced this weekend.
In a move designed to save costs, Phillip Island is the first of three events where teams are prohibited from changing brakes from Saturday qualifying onwards.
That means drivers will head into today’s 20 minute qualifying session and 45 lap race with the same brakes that were used on Saturday.
Opening race winner Scott McLaughlin says he was reminded to look after the brakes yesterday but isn’t overly concerned about their longevity at a circuit not known for high brake wear.
“I was told about the brakes, I wasn’t going overly hard but there is only so much you can do as well,” said McLaughlin when asked if he conserved at all in Race 6.
“We’ll find out (in the race), but they’re pretty strong so they should be alright.”
Jamie Whincup ran second to McLaughlin in yesterday’s sprint and stressed post-race that he supports such rules invoked to cut costs.
“I was going flat-out, I was not conserving brakes at all,” he said.
“We’ve had a few issues with cracking the last few race meetings, so we’ll do a full inspection and I’m sure if anyone has a cracked rotor they’ll be allowed to change it.
“It’s a great idea from the category trying to contain costs so we’re not just throwing money down the drain.”
DJR Team Penske, which struggled with brake issues last time out at Symmons Plains, has been critical of the rule change.
After storming from ninth to third in Race 6, star driver Fabian Coulthard said he’ll have to manage the situation the best he can.
“We’re all under the same constraints of only being able to use the one set, so we’ll just have to maximise what we have,” he said.
Tyres are also set to be under the microscope today, with Dunlop and V8 Supercars this morning expected to complete an investigation into the two failures seen on Saturday.
