Supercars has reacted to concerns raised by drivers over the extreme heat experienced within the cabin of Gen3 Supercars.
Drivers from both Ford and Chevrolet camps experienced discomfort on the opening day of running in Newcastle today.
Shane van Gisbergen was the most outspoken, stating “my feet are on fire” following the third practice session.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver also noted heat protection that had been installed by his team had been removed ahead of today’s track action.
That is now set to be reinstalled.
Supercars allow teams to address heat
“Supercars has sent out a note this evening saying that team can put some more insulation [in],” Mark Dutton, team manager at Red Bull, confirmed to Speedcafe.com.
“So you can insulate what’s called the ex- or cross-pipe underneath the car.
“That’s where you’ve got the headers come down, you’ve got a collector where it goes four into one.
“So that cross pipe through there, which is basically beneath the driver, that can be insulated to reduce the amount of heat that’s going through the floor into the cockpit.”
The primary area of concern among drivers was the pedal box, an area that protrudes into the engine bay and therefore is exposed to significant heat.
“Then also the front firewall where the feet go, that can be insulated on the inside, which will help you to keep the heat out,” Dutton added.
“But when you can’t keep the heat out you still try to insulate it away from the driver as best you can.
“So that’s good that we’ve got those two allowances to happen.”
Supercars are back on track for qualifying at 11:15 AEDT on Saturday morning ahead of a top 10 shootout 80 minutes later.
The opening 250km race of the weekend, which equates to 95 laps, is scheduled to commence at 15:20 tomorrow afternoon.
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