V8 Supercars is in the midst of devising its race formats for next season, with radical changes not being ruled out.
A desire for a greater variety of formats is afoot within the paddock – a movement strengthened by the highly entertaining 60 km sprint race run on Saturday at the recent Dick Smith Sandown 500.
In addition to a wider range of race distances, a shift in emphasis back towards the soft tyre has also been mooted.
The widespread use of the mixed tyre format this season has reduced many races to economy runs as teams stretch their fuel windows in order to maximise time on the quicker rubber, often to the detriment of engine life.
While possible format changes were a major point of discussion at the most recent V8 Supercars Commission meeting at Sandown, concrete decisions are yet to be made on the matter.
The sporting regulations do not need to be locked in until December, although a need to confirm tyre allocation requirements to control supplier Dunlop has created some urgency.
Commission member Tim Edwards told Speedcafe.com that calls for new formats are being tempered against a reluctance to deviate too far from the status quo.
“We’ve got some great racing going on at the moment, so it’s not exactly broken how it is, but we are looking at the formats,” said Edwards.
“We’ve got lots of ideas, so now it’s up to the Board and Commission to decide what’s good, bad, ugly and indifferent.
“You have to be conscious of the fact that we have actually got a good product. There are good races and bad races, no different to good and bad football games, and you can’t just have one bad race and start cutting it all to pieces and starting fresh.
“We’re open to a bunch of ideas, but it’s no different to this time any other year – everything is open for discussions. We just have to consider what they all are.
“There is certainly genuine interest in mixing things up, but we might do nothing.”
Although the category will be moving to a new 18-inch wheel and tyre package with its Car of the Future next year, the class has elected to continue with the same hard and soft compounds that are currently in play.
