Supercars competitors are expecting relief when they race on a second-year surface at this weekend’s Vailo Adelaide 500.
While that was generally regarded as a positive development, brand-new bitumen is usually a double-edged sword and drivers were left walking a tightrope.
Grip was high on the racing line but straying even slightly wide of the mark carried with it the threat of serious consequences.
Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner is expecting an easier task this time around.
“The track being resurfaced last year was definitely tricky,” said the R&J Batteries Camaro pilot.
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“I remember, even under Safety Car, you had to pick your line and if you got slightly wrong, you could almost end up in the fence at 40km/h.
“I think it’ll be a lot better now; of course, the road’s been driven on a little bit and it’s cured a lot more, so normally that gets rid of that.
“But, I don’t think it’s a very high-use area [in] parts of the track so we still might see a bit of action as far as that goes.
“I don’t think it’ll bring up the oil as it did last year and stuff like that, but there should be plenty of grip and good for tyre degradation.”
Penrite Racing Team Principal David Cauchi had a similar take, although he too alluded to the permanent section which wraps around the pit complex in Victoria Park and hence has still seen very little running.
“You normally see, after a resurface, the first year can be quite difficult – cars can get quite edgy on the new surfaces with the high grip – and that seems to drop off quite significantly after the first year,” he told Speedcafe.
“So, it’ll probably not be quite as extreme as it was last year, but it’ll still be a hybrid circuit.”
The new-for-2022 surface also made some kerbs easier to tackle while creating new challenges at others.
The Senna Chicane kerbing was effectively made smaller because the new surface sits higher, but drivers were enticed into an “evil” double bounce at Turn 13.
Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters will be first on-track today at 08:00 local time/08:30 AEDT, with Repco Supercars Championship Practice 1 scheduled at 15:45 local time/16:15 AEDT.
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