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There are hopes the introduction of the softer compound Dunlop tyre at this weekend’s Sandown Super2 round could lead to the tyre being used more widely in the series next season.
Super2 will use the super soft compound Dunlop tyres for the first time in more than five years, mirroring the tyre selections available to main game drivers and teams.
“It’s a great initiative by Supercars because ultimately Super2 is the breeding ground for the future Supercars drivers,” team boss Matt Stone told Speedcafe.com.
“That ability to go from one compound to the other, weekend to weekend, is really an aspect of it that Super2 doesn’t incorporate.
“I think having a certain soft tyre round means that those young drivers are learning the differences before getting into the main game.”
It’s a view shared by MW Motorsport’s Garry Jacobson, who was on the grid when Super2 last used the softer compound tyre in a single race at Townsville in 2013.
However, Jacobson, who is this year partnering Rick Kelly in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, believes that using one compound all weekend will net better results than it did previously.
“People were on a completely different tyre that was a second faster a lap and were expected straight away to be able to adjust to that and be able to race,” Jacobson told Speedcafe.com.
“Then it turned out being a couple people running into one another, getting a little bit confused with how much more grip was available and I think people over drove their cars.”
Jacobson is also in favour of the move, though would like to have more tyres at his disposal.
“Where it would have been easier for the Super2 teams to be given a set of tyres to practice on in a test day or something like that,” he reasoned.
“It would have been nice to have eight tyres so we could have two practice runs on them to figure it out with our car set-ups.
“I think when you put all that aside, I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction for the category.
Having stepped up from Super2 into the main game after Todd Hazelwood won last year’s title, Stone hopes the concept not only proves successful but gets rolled out more widely next season.
“In my opinion, if this is a success, I’d like to see next year a more structured plan which includes testing tyres and race meeting tyres, more soft events,” Stone explained.
“I compare it to the mini-enduro that Super2 does at Bathurst.
“It brings our category in Super2 more in line with the main game, which from driver, teams and engineers, is a training ground for the main game.
“So really it just brings the format much more closely aligned, and I think that’s great.”
The Super2 Series has two 40 minute practice sessions on Friday, ahead separate qualifying and 22 lap races on Saturday and Sunday.
