Changes to the Gen3 Supercars’ exhausts will be phased in from this weekend’s Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint in order to enhance the racing.
The Chevrolet Camaros have the option of running shortened exhaust tips from tomorrow at Symmons Plains, with the change becoming mandatory at the following event of the Repco Supercars Championship, at Darwin’s Hidden Valley.
The modification is being made in order to remove a hazard which could cut tyres down, and is understood to be coming for the 11 Ford Mustangs in the field at Hidden Valley also.
“The tips on the Camaros, it’s been optional for this weekend to shorten them, and then for Darwin, everyone to be shortened,” Red Bull Ampol Racing Team Manager Mark Dutton told Speedcafe.
“That’s just to remove the chance of them cutting tyres.
“Obviously, the Mustangs need to do a similar thing.”
The new exhaust spec supports another subtle change which features on the Gen3 race cars, namely the smaller wheel nut which was introduced this year in order to cut out the problem of interlocking wheels and hence promote more side-by-side racing.
Teams have also been given latitude to make further changes to gear lever towers after breakages in the most recent event of the season at Wanneroo Raceway.
“The towers were an issue earlier and not all teams had chosen to beef it up, and there have been further beef-ups allowed, or different versions,” explained Dutton.
Gear levers were problematic on two fronts in Perth, with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s own Shane van Gisbergen having his become stuck in the downshift position during practice, and at least Truck Assist Racing’s Cameron Hill having a similar drama.
That issue remains outstanding.
“That one’s a really hard one to isolate because when you open up the trans[axle] and everything’s all good, and you check all the mechanism, everything looked fine, so it’s a TBC that one, we’re still investigating it,” remarked Dutton.
Support categories are on-track today at Symmons Plains, with Practice 1 for the Supercars Championship field starting tomorrow at 09:00 local time/AEST.
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