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WHILE the dust settles on A1GP’s last minute withdrawal from the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast, V8 Supercar teams are already prepared for the extra miles that they will cover around the Surfers Paradise street circuit.
With revised supplementary regulations and event schedules still pending, V8 Supercar teams were informed in confidence late Friday that they would be required to cover four 150 kilometres race distances at the event.
Each car will receive six additional Dunlop control tyres for the extra races, which make the Gold Coast event second only to Bathurst in terms of race mileage.
Jack Daniel’s Racing Team Manager Joe Bremner sighted brakes as a major concern for V8 teams, admitting that the team had sent additional brakes, wheels and panels to the Gold Coast.
“We’ve put more brakes and wheels in our two transporters before sending them up to Queensland,” said Bremner.
“We’ve also taken more panels and other equipment to allow for the cars running extra races and covering the extra distance.
“Brakes and tyres and the main thing, as the Surfers Paradise street circuit is one of the most demanding circuits we visit in terms of brakes. It’s not only the hot temperatures, but also the fact that there are several heavy braking zones each lap.
“Engine mileage and the driveline area of the car is something we will also monitor but we’ve just come away from Bathurst where all four Kelly Racing cars finished inside the top 20, so we’ve showed that we can do 1000 kilometres, so 600 kilometres is not a huge drama.”
With the exact details of the revised schedule still being fleshed out over the weekend by V8 Supercars Australia officials and SuperGP event staff, teams will have to rethink pre-race strategies in the coming days as more details come to hand.
“The next few days will be busy as we reassess our plan for the weekend and determine what race strategy we will employ,” said Bremner, who oversees the Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodores of Todd and Rick Kelly.
“It’s a great event and we’re all looking forward to the challenge of this new format.
“It will be very demanding on the drivers and teams but it will certainly be a interesting and exciting event with four V8 Supercar races.”
The original V8 Supercar schedule saw the local favourites hit the track on Friday, with that not expected to change.
