Supercars is rolling out its new Super440 format at five events this year in place of the previous SuperSprint and Super400 variants.
It consists of two 120km races on Saturday and a single 200km encounter on the Sunday, each with a dedicated qualifying session.
In addition to the two different race distances, teams will have to deal with two different tyre compounds as well.
Teams must use the soft tyre for races one and three (and their corresponding qualifying sessions), and the super soft for race two (and its qualifying session).
Nailing the right set up for the super soft tyre will be particularly challenging as teams are only given two sets per car, and using one in practice would compromise qualifying.
The two Saturday qualifying sessions on the two different compounds are to be held back-to-back, with only a 10 minute break in between.
The varying race distances also mean different pit strategies, with a single compulsory stop in the Saturday sprints and two required on Sunday, where refuelling churns will be in action.
Supercars commentator Neil Crompton says the format is all about throwing curveballs at the teams.
Last year’s SuperSprint (2 x 140km races) and Super400 (2 x 200km races) allowed teams to analyse the Saturday result and apply lessons directly to Sunday.
“The premise behind this is, what tends to happen is an enormous amount of ‘monkey see, monkey do’,” Crompton explained on the Formation Lap.
“Once a format or a method to succeed has been trialled and proven by one of the leading teams, everybody else falls into line.
“So when you scramble the distance and you scramble adding the fuel and the tyre compounds, that becomes infinitely harder.
“The degree of difficulty has gone up exponentially. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out when we get there.”
Team 18 driver David Reynolds, who is looking to rebound from a horror start to the season, says the addition of the super soft tyre to the mix is the biggest unknown.
“It’ll be a bit of a lucky dip, especially with the super softs, which no one has run yet this year,” he said.
“But if you’ve got good balance in the car, you should be able to convert between compounds okay.
“Hopefully the weather’s a bit kinder to us this time – last year it was freezing and wet – but either way, it’s going to be a fun event.”
The early forecast for Saturday and Sunday in Taupo is for fine conditions with a top of 19 degrees on both days.
Discussion about this post