Race 15 of the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship could be set for a surprise winner after a loophole in the tyre regulations has emerged.

V8 Supercars clarified the situation this morning, confirming that teams will be allowed to run the their soft tyres from yesterday, in addition to the set allocated specifically for Race 15, in today’s 200km race.

Those who ran minimal laps on their soft tyres in Race 14 are set to gain the most from the rule anomaly.

Speedcafe.com understands that James Courtney, Alex Davison, Jason Bargwanna, Karl Reindler and Tim Slade will enter the race with the freshest ‘used’ soft tyres, thanks to their mixed Race 1 fortunes.

V8 Supercars operations manager Damien White explained the situation to Speedcafe.com at the circuit.

“The supplementary regulation is clear that you are allowed a maximum of four new soft tyres, and this does not therefore preclude the use of a used soft tyre allocated for the meeting,” White told Speedcafe.com.

“So if a team used soft tyres in yesterday’s race that they wish to use in today’s race then they are free to do that, as long as they use the new soft tyres at some point.”

White said that there should be no confusion over the regulations heading into the race.

“Sometimes teams come to us and seek clarification,” said White of this morning’s situation.

“In this particular instance the stewards saw fit to issue a clarification by way of a bulletin. This is to ensure that, before we get into the race, there is no chance of any confusion.”