Instead, the Friday session has been shortened to 60 minutes but 20-minute hit-outs have been added to Saturday and Sunday morning, with similar variations also at Hidden Valley and Symmons Plains.
Not only does the programme deliver an extra 10 minutes of practice time in net terms, it provides drivers an opportunity to ease into qualifying for each of the weekend’s races.
“We’ve got a long practice on the Friday and then every day we have a practice session,” noted Reynolds.
“So, normally we just roll up on a Saturday and it’s just straight into high-pressure qualifying.
“Now, the day starts a little bit earlier, more relaxed, and you get to try a few things in your car and then go qualify.
Secure your spot today.
“So, you don’t have a gun to your head when you wake up in the morning thinking about qualifying on fresh tyres; you can sort of ease yourself into the day.
“So, it’s probably good from a human standpoint and stress levels.
“It should be good for our team because, the more testing work we can do in our team, the better data and better knowledge we can have, so it’s only a good thing for you.”
There will be at least two hours between the end of practice and start of qualifying, each of which is a knockout session, this weekend.
By contrast, rolling straight into qualifying on at least the Sunday had been the norm since Supercars moved away from recognising round winners in 2009.
With trophies instead handed out for individual races, the progressive grid system was scrapped.
However, there was a further change introduced from Event 2 of the season in Hamilton, that being qualifying for each race, after the format of a single qualifying session and shootout determining the grid for both races at the Adelaide 500 proved unpopular.
Qualifying is even more high-pressure at Wanneroo given the brevity of the 2.42km lap – pole position being less than 54.5s on each occasion in 2023 – and the prevalence of front-row race winners, as Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Broc Feeney and Will Brown noted.
Reynolds’ team-mate Mark Winterbottom is the most prolific active full-time driver in Perth, with seven race wins (behind only Craig Lowndes’ 16 and Mark Skaife’s eight).
He said, “Perth is a pretty unique track.
“It’s one of the smallest ones we go to; turns right pretty well the whole lap with just one left-hander.
“High tyre degradation makes it really tricky in the races, but again, qualifying is key.
“So, for us going to Perth we need to make sure we qualify up the front. And I think if we can do that, we’re going to get a good result.”
Team 18 is coming off a tough event at Taupo, with neither driver cracking the top 10 in a race or qualifying session.
Reynolds had the added insult of finishing dead last and a lap down in Race 8 thanks to a technical problem for the #20 Tradie Beer Camaro and a roll of the dice on a three-stop strategy.
“Last time for us in New Zealand wasn’t the best showing,” admitted the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner.
“So, I hope we can turn it all around and start heading further up the grid.”
Practice 1 takes place on Friday from 14:20 local time/16:20 AEST, with a 55-lap/133km race on the cards for each of the Saturday and Sunday.
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