Rain is forecast all day, with possible afternoon thunderstorms, making for an even bigger headache for teams and drivers given the Supercars Championship has never raced at the venue before.
Chaz Mostert has tipped “chaos” because of the abrasive nature of the surface alone, which has been likened to that which used to exist at Perth’s Wanneroo Raceway.
However, if the heavens do open, there is the additional question of how the wet tyre will fare.
Dunlop introduced a new, softer compound of wet for the start of the Gen3 era, yet hardly any Supercars Championship sessions saw rain in 2023.
Notwithstanding that light rain fell during last year’s Australian Grand Prix weekend, the only genuinely wet session was Practice 1 at Adelaide, yet conditions are likely to be worse today.
Davison expects a wet Taupo to race like a wet Wanneroo of old, but the tyre will still be guesswork.
“We obviously have a soft[er] wet than we had back in the Perth days which we haven’t done a huge amount of running on, so that could make it even extra spicy,” said the Shell V-Power Racing Team driver, who was third-quickest in Practice.
“Sometimes, particularly if it’s a cool place, you’re better to leave a wet on to keep the temperature in it in a pit stop but I don’t think that will be the case here.
“I think we’ll see a significant drop, but a gain by changing tyres, but we’ll find out soon enough.
“It looks like… I don’t say a hundred percent [probability of rain] – I hope it is because we used one extra tyre then than I wanted to – but I’m assuming it’ll be wet [today].
“I bloody hope it is, otherwise…” he laughed.
New Zealander Matt Payne, one of the few drivers who have raced at Taupo already, highlighted another aspect to keep an eye out for, specifically how the circuit drains.
“I think it’ll be really cool,” said the Penrite Racing pilot, second-fastest in practice, of the potential for rain.
“I’m looking forward to a bit of wet weather driving; I haven’t done it for a bit and I always enjoy the wet, especially around here.
“I think it’s going to be pretty sketchy. I remember test days long ago here and it was wet and the drainage was not amazing.
“So, it’s going to be interesting if it rains the whole day [today].”
Qualifying for Race 7 of the season, the first of the weekend, starts today at 10:20 local time/08:20 AEST, with a Top 10 Shootout to follow later in the day.
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