A number of Supercars drivers’ calls have been answered with the series confirming a tweak to tyre regulations surround qualifying with all drivers now mandated to run on the same compound of tyre.
The change comes after last round’s Sydney Motorsport Park qualifying blunder in which several drivers were forced to run on hard tyres in the shootout after having used the best of their soft tyre allotment in the timed qualifying sessions.
“For the shootout, we should all have got one set of tyres and just used it for that lap – and then we give it back,” said championship leader Scott McLaughlin at SMP.
“I think we need to make it so we’re all on the same allocation.
“You get there on merit, you get there on what strategy you do, and if you make it using two hards, you make it.”
Chaz Mostert, Chris Pither, and Todd Hazelwood all set their best qualifying lap times on the soft tyre, compelling them to run the hard tyre for the shootout and finishing between two-to-three seconds off the pole position time.
The new rules, which come to effect at the upcoming Darwin Triple Crown event, will have all drivers use the hard compound of tyres for both Q1 and Q2 and again in the shootout should they make it.
Whether the set of tyres will come from the team’s existing tyre allotment or a separate set given to teams at the start of each session remains unknown, though the former seems more likely given Dunlop’s limited number of sets available to teams.
The regulation change is targeted at levelling the playing field, nullifying the arbitrary nature of recent qualifying sessions and putting the emphasis back on outright performance.
However, the rules will only come into effect on Saturday with drivers able to use either hard or soft compound tyres for Sunday’s two qualifying sessions.
Supercars also confirmed the length of each race at Darwin with three 38-lap affairs set to feature on the event programme.