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Drivers are hopeful that overnight attention to Pukekohe’s kerbing will prevent a repeat of today’s practice crashes at the circuit’s challenging Turn 2/3/4 complex.
A succession of drivers found the tyre wall at Turn 4 across the three sessions after sliding on gravel that had been dragged onto the road from inside the preceding apex kerb.
Among those to hit hardest were Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Will Davison, who all spun before striking the wall.
Officials set about inspecting the corners after practice amid concerns that the debris will turn qualifying into a lottery.
The issue is similar to that seen at Winton earlier this year which resulted in track workers sweeping away excess gravel from key apexes ahead of qualifying.
“There was so much stuff on the road down there it was ruining everyone’s run,” David Reynolds, who found the barrier nose-first after also slipping on the gravel, told Speedcafe.com.
“Hopefully they can rectify it because it was horrible to drive through there.
“The races might not be so bad, but for qualifying when everyone is giving it 100 percent it needs to be fixed.”
McLaughlin said he was “a passenger” in his practice off which damaged the rear bumper of his Volvo.
“You don’t know what the grip level is like until you get there,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“It really punishes anyone who runs a little bit wide, which is what happened to me.
“We’ve always had a bit of dirt come onto the track there, but this stuff they’ve used is definitely worse.”
Reigning Supercars champion Mark Winterbottom is also hopeful of improved track conditions for qualifying, but stressed that the issue may not be able to be completely resolved.
“The fact that there was rain last night coming in horizontal softened everything up,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“Overall they’ve done a good job of presenting the circuit.
“I honestly don’t know what the solution is with the dirt being dragged onto the road.
“If they fill it with concrete people will just drive over it, so then it needs a sensor which causes more issues.
“You always want it to be perfect but it’s not a problem that’s unique to here.
“It’s just unfortunate that it leads directly to another corner.”
Just like at Winton in May, debris issues did not stop the practice record tumbling, with 11 drivers under the previous benchmark set 12 months ago.
