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Speedcafe understands that the Great Race will be run on the hard compound of Dunlop control tyre rather than the soft, although whether the switch has yet been formally ratified is not known.
While the theory had been that the softs could cop the reduced weight and corner loads of the new generation of Supercars, and hence should be used to create jeopardy around tyre wear, the higher degradation played to a strategy of driving conservatively in order to elongate stints.
There was thus no flat-out run to the finish as had become commonplace and, even if there was, the extent of ‘marbles’ off-line would have made passing difficult and ‘qualifying laps’ treacherous.
Further evidence of the merit of reverting to the hard compound was seen at this year’s Repco Supercars Championship season-opener, which also unfolded at Mount Panorama.
“I’m a fan of it,” he declared.
“I think I was able to push a lot harder than what I could have in the 1000.
“Obviously the stints are a bit shorter here this weekend but, especially in the last couple of stints, I felt like I was able to attack more.
“For me, where we qualified at [compared] to race pace is probably half what it was at the 1000.
“We qualified at a ‘four’ [2:04s] at the 1000 and raced in the ‘eights’; we still raced in the eights today but qualified at a ‘six’.
“So, I’m a fan of it, I think it’s better. As the boys said, marbles were less today.
“Obviously we’ll find out in a 1000-kay race, and we’ll see what they come up with, but I thought it was a positive.”
‘The boys’ were Feeney’s team-mate Will Brown and Mobil 1 Optus Mustang driver Chaz Mostert, both of whom gave at least qualified support for running hards at the 1000.
Garth Tander, a multi-time Great Race winner like Mostert, and working that weekend as a television pundit, also weighed in on the matter on the broadcast.
“I drove in the 1000 here on the soft tyre [and] there were marbles everywhere,” noted the Penrite Racing co-driver.
“When I jumped in the car for the second stint, I was scared to look off-line because there was a lot of marbles.
“So, we 100 percent have the listen to the drivers that drove the cars this weekend, and the 1000 last year, and understand exactly what they want.
“Listening to the press conference, it sounds like the hard tyre is how they want to go.
“It looked like Mostert versus Brown versus Feeney for those last 10 laps today were going at it hammer and tongs and extracting everything out of the car.
“You weren’t able to do that last year; you had to manage the tyre all the way through their stint.
“Listen to those that drove the cars.”
As it stands, the Bathurst 500 was the only event this year where the hard compound was set to be used, with the soft allocated again for the Bathurst 1000.
Speedcafe understands, though, that production timelines in the Japanese factory where the Dunlop control tyres are made are such that the latter can still be changed in time for October’s Mount Panorama enduro.
The next three events of 2024, at Albert Park, Taupo, and Wanneroo, will all be run on the soft, before the super soft makes its first appearance of the season, at Hidden Valley.
