Supercars has announced changes to windscreen markings ahead of the Thrifty Newcastle 500 season-opener to enhance driver vision.
As reported this morning by Speedcafe.com, Triple Eight Race Engineering and other teams had been running with variations in the usual markings at this week’s pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The championship has now advised via its official website that Schedule E1 of the Operations Manual has been amended such that the driver’s surname on the windscreen will be reduced in size from 110mm to 80mm.
Furthermore, rather than the surname being 20mm from the driver’s side of the car, it will now be shifted across to be 20mm from the yellow competition number, which remains 150mm high and located on the passenger side.
The Gen3 race cars have a smaller ‘greenhouse’ than their Gen2 predecessors, a change that is especially pronounced in the Chevrolet Camaro which teams such as Triple Eight field.
Triple Eight drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney, the former of whom is among the tallest in the championship, reported problems seeing the light gantry when they attempted practice starts from the head of the grid while shaking their cars down at Queensland Raceway.
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As spotted by Speedcafe.com, the Red Bull Ampol Camaros were running not only with smaller than (previously) legal surnames at the test, but van Gisbergen’s shifted across his windscreen during the day.
The tweak means drivers will have less clutter on the windscreen on their side of the car.
Notably, Triple Eight also experimented with perforated competition numbers on the side windows, while Dick Johnson Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United were spotted with perforated surnames on their Ford Mustangs’ windscreens.
Supercars introduced surnames to the windscreens in 2021, having previously mandated them only on the side windows during the Car of the Future era and prior.
Nowadays, they are only displayed on the windscreen, while suggestions of restoring the competition number to doors/front quarter panels did not come to pass.
All 25 new Gen3 race cars tested at Sydney this week, with the majority of the field to conduct their final pre-season test day next week, at either Queensland Raceway or Winton.
The season starts at the Newcastle East Street Circuit on March 10-12.
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