The second running of the category’s new three-race Super440 format is effectively an inverse of that debuted last month at Taupo when it comes to the tyre allocation.
Super soft tyres will be run for the first and third races and their respective qualifying sessions, while the new-generation soft is utilised only for the second qualifying and race.
Symmons Plains is the only event where that format has been chosen, which Supercars motorsport boss Tim Edwards says is due to the low degradation nature of the track.
“A lot of what we’ve done with the formats this year and the different tyres on the different days for the different races, etcetera, is to make it harder for the teams,” Edwards told Speedcafe.
“So, by switching what we did it, from New Zealand to here, it’s just another challenge for the teams. Our goal is to make it harder for them.
“We know the super soft tyre worked OK at this circuit. If you try to do it this way on a higher degradation circuit, it probably wouldn’t give the same outcome.
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“We still want good racing. We still want them to be able to race hard for the duration of the race, and we know from previous years that some races they drive around on eggshells.
“So what we’re trying to do this year is give them a tyre they can race on hard for the whole race, and the super soft here, you can because it’s a very low degradation circuit.”
Asked if it’s a shame not to be utilising the new soft given it’s been credited as key in delivering more exciting racing this year, Edwards noted the timelines involved in the decision making.
“We committed to these tyres at certain venues with literally the testing that we did in the very small, bite-sized bits, really, during last year,” he said.
“So we just had to take a bit of a guess and when we look at the tyres for next year, we’ll do it with the full knowledge of how they all performed at the various tracks.”
2025 Supercars Tasmania Super440 – Start time, how to watch, TV times & more
Supercars has also made a minor tweak to the Super440 qualifying regulations for Saturday’s action at Symmons Plains.
Cars will now allowed to be refuelled between Saturday’s two sessions, which as per Taupo are run back-to-back and consist of two parts each.
“One of the things that we learned at Taupo with the two blocks of qualifying was that with only a small gap in the middle, it’s difficult for us to actually be able to scrutineer cars,” he said.
“Effectively for Race 11, you don’t get to scrutineer cars until after you’ve done qualifying for Race 12, so that’s a bit of an issue for us.
“In New Zealand we also realised that if you don’t make the top 10 in Race 11, but you’re fuelled for the whole thing, you’re effectively going into the first part of qualifying for Race 12 with more fuel than the guys who did the top 10 for Race 11.
“So now we’re basically releasing the cars, they can pull them back into their garage, it’s a 20-minute gap, and they’ve got the chance to just top their cars up.”
Supercars also last week elected to cut two laps from Sunday’s race distance amid fears some cars would need a third pit stop to get through the originally scheduled 80 laps.
“The last thing I want to hear is someone to say, ‘you’re going to have to conserve fuel otherwise you’re going to have to do a third pit stop,” said Edwards. “That’s not what we want.”
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