The Repco SuperSprint at The Bend last weekend saw another action-packed round of the Australia Supercars Championship.
Several issues plagued the field which saw some of the top teams struggling and could have a big role in the way the championship battle continues to play out with just two rounds remaining.
While Shane van Gisbergen was able to win the first Sunday race (Race 26), the weekend was another this season that challenged his Triple Eight team.
Between the issues both team cars suffered through the weekend, Triple Eight didn’t look like the consistent team they usually are, struggling to find their usual consistency.
Both cars suffered tyre issues, Jamie Whincup received a penalty for his pass on Scott McLaughlin on Saturday and then the first Sunday race saw the air jack fail during Whincup’s pit stop.
With McLaughlin now sitting 215-points ahead of Whincup and with 100-points awarded to the winner of each race, it is still possible for McLaughlin to head to the final Bathurst round with a 300-point lead. However, this is highly dependent on rival Whincup having a bad race or another mediocre weekend.
There are a number of scenarios that would get the 85-points McLaughlin needs, but effectively he is required to finish near the front and have Whincup at least five spots behind in each race or for Whincup to have at least one bad race.
With the dramas Triple Eight experienced over the weekend, McLaughlin was able to grow his championship lead. If he can gain a similar points haul this weekend he would be within reach of the one round advantage he’d ideally like heading to the finale at Bathurst.
With the series returning to The Bend this weekend and so many teams unable to get on top of the tyre dramas, it could play a significant role in the championship battle.
Over the last few seasons, many people have had suggestions on how to add more interest back into the sprint races with one of the most common being more tyre degradation.
Though this was the series third visit to the circuit, the previous races have all been on hard tyres while this year saw a switch to softs.
But why was it such an issue?
The weekend started with two rain-affected practice sessions with light showers through the first while the second was hit by rain.
This left many teams working on their one-lap pace for qualifying before the rain hit. Many changed their practice routines leaving less time for ‘race runs’, which usually give teams an idea of how the tyre will respond during the race.
For many teams this contributed to the tyre dramas that became a feature of the weekend.
The track surface at the Bend is much smoother than most other tracks which let teams run more camber on the tyre, giving more grip.
One of the biggest issues are turns 7 to 10 which effectively form one long sweeping corner putting significant stress on the tyres, with an average speed of 190kmh through that part of the track.
The force and stress put through the wheel causes the tyres to blister, while the track surface pulled chunks of rubber off the tyres, making the cars difficult to drive.
It wasn’t till late in the first race when the scope of the issue became apparent, although a handful of cars finished the race with no issues at all.
Some teams and drivers couldn’t get on top of it, while others made adjustments to the car or the way they were driving to avoid more issues.
It seemed that some of the worst affected had incredible pace through the first part of each stint before they would rapidly start dropping back, with Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Nick Percat being some of the worst affected.
With The Bend’s West Circuit being used for this weekend’s round, the cars will require a different setup adding even more unknowns into this seasons championship battle. Which leaves the question, can McLaughlin and his team gain that added advantage over Whincup heading to Bathurst?
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