Supercars has issued teams with a special data package to help understand the new specification Dunlop tyres ahead of next week’s official test at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Control tyre supplier Dunlop has produced a new construction of tyre for this season designed to improve the racing.
Such a significant change to the tyres has seen Supercars conduct their own private tests with the data made available to teams last week ahead of the tyre test next Tuesday.
The 100gb file contains extensive data and videos which should aid teams with camber and pressure settings when running the new tyres.
The upcoming test day will prove vital for teams as they move to quickly adapt the category’s latest new variable.
Drivers have been particularly vocal regarding the importance of the test claiming the outcome of the day could make or break the season.
Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton likened the data package to those received by Formula 1 teams from Pirelli.
While the data is unlikely to provide answers regarding the longevity of the tyres, he believes if analysed correctly it could prove an advantage.
“There is not a lot of simulations (for the new tyres) we can run, but the one big difference is Supercars have done a tyre test for the first time and distributed the data to the teams,” Dutton told Speedcafe.com.
“You can start analysing that, and we need to, because there are billions of lines of data to try and crunch to see what that tells us.
“That is the same for everyone so that definitely does give you a head start.
“The data should give you some windows to work in in terms of camber and pressure. I don’t think it is going to tell us much about longevity.
“It is still a huge step forward from what has happened in the past. It is a cool thing that the category has done and distributed to everyone.”
Dutton believes the test won’t prove to be any advantage to the team.
“I wish it did (give us an advantage. We didn’t do any alterations to the car and we tested a whole bunch of tyres,” he added.
“It is actually more of a detriment than a positive.
“You are busy trying to contest a championship and then you go and take your crew and car to run a tyre test instead of focussing on the job in hand.”
Four sets of the soft and super-soft tyres have been made available to teams prior to the test day.
Triple Eight, Prodrive, DJR Team Penske, Nissan Motorsport and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport elected against using the 2017 tyres during their shakedown and test runs this week.
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