MOTORSPORT: Tyred and pointless Supercars

The second 2017 race outing for Supercars isn’t for points but nor is it pointless. Indeed, track-time at Albert Park in support of the Formula One circus is still going to be of immense value in determining who will come on strong in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (VASC).

The four 13-lap sprint races on the Albert Park street circuit are the first time the field has had the chance to get to grips with the new construction super-soft Dunlop tyre.

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The lack of points means there’s no risk to championship position if a little (or a lot) of experimenting with set-up is conducted.

The Albert Park learnings will flow straight on into the championship as the next VASC outing is on the super-soft tyre at Symmons Plains in Tasmania on April 7-9.

There’s another new wrinkle at Albert Park and that’s a revised qualifying procedure that’s designed to shake up some processional racing.

Instead of grid positions being progressively tabulated based on finishing positions, points accrued, a lottery, astrology, the colour of the driver’s eyes or whatever, each grid will be based on a 10-minute qualifying session. All four sessions will run rapid-fire on Thursday evening, while the races will be spread over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“I am pretty sure you only get one set of tyres for qualifying, so it’s going to be a nail-biter out there,” said Prodrive Ford Falcon driver Chaz Mostert. “You qualify badly it’s going to be hard to race through with such a short race.”

Mostert sits fourth in the VASC points after the opening round and, like most of the field, will be looking to find the performance to bridge the gap to Shane van Gisbergen, who dominated the Clipsal 500 in his Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore VF.

Van Gisbergen’s closest competition in Adelaide was provided by the DJR Team Penske Ford Falcons of Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard.

“It's a good opportunity for us to try some wacky things with the car and try and get some more pace out of it,” Mostert said.

Based on recent and historic form, it’s hard to go past van Gisbergen and the Red Bull team at Albert Park. The Supercars champion’s dominance in Adelaide was a continuation of his hot 2016 form, of which he gave his first inkling at the GP last year with three wins from four starts.

In fact, all up, he’s won six of the last 12 Supercars races run at the venue, while his Team Vortex/Triple Eight stablemate Craig Lowndes has five wins. SvG’s Red Bull team-mate Jamie Whincup will be keen to add to his tally of just two wins here, especially considering his disappointing start to the season at the Clipsal 500.

It’s been a relatively quiet run-up to the AGP for the tin-tops, with a failed bid for championship status rearing its head as usual. This should get more play in the coming months as the category’s current contract with the AGP expires after the 2018 race.

More recently, Nick Percat’s rainbow-hued Brad Jones Racing Commodore backed by Holden with the slogan ‘Supporting Equality’ emblazoned on the side has proved controversial. It’s a similar livery to the Colorado supplied by Holden for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras last month, but the team says its message is broader in scope promoting equality regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

Reaction to the sponsorship on social media has been mixed, proving not all Australians are onside with such a message.
Newcastle finale settles
Supercars appears to be overcoming local political opposition to the track layout planned for the new season-ending Newcastle 500.

The seaside race through the NSW city’s east end replaces the Sydney 500 at Homebush and complies with the state’s tourism body Destination NSW’s contractual right to run the final round of the VASC.

But the Newcastle City Council has been bluing about the lack of consultation it has had with Destinations NSW and Mayor Nuatali Nelmes last week claimed Supercars boss James Warburton had told her by text that a change to the course was possible. But during a PR visit to the track this week Warburton ruled out any changes and told media the race had been subject to “scaremongering”.

Nelmes, who stood alongside Warburton at the Tuesday presser, backed down from her claims of the previous week, acknowledging the course would not change in 2017.

Warburton will be back in Newcastle next week for a round of community consultation. Construction work on the track gets underway in May.
AGP Supercars by the numbers
>>There are four 13 lap races for the Supercars at Albert Park. Two are on Friday and one each on Saturday and Sunday. Breaking recent tradition, each race will have its own qualifying session, comprising four consecutive 10-minute session beginning at 5pm Thursday evening.

>>This is the only non-points paying outing scheduled for the category in 2016.

>>All qualifying and racing will be conducted on the new-construction Dunlop super-soft tyre, placing lap records under immediate threat.

>>The clockwise 5.3km Albert Park street circuit has a top speed of 256km/h. Average speed is 164km/h. With mainly right-hand corners, the circuit works left-side tyres harder.

>> Craig Lowndes owns the race lap record at 1m 55.96 sec.

>> Fox Sports, Channels 10 and ONE will show the action live.