Teammates key for Monza Eseries qualifying

Jack Le Brocq believes there will be value in teammates offering each other a slipstream in qualifying at Monza for tonight’s BP Supercars All Stars Eseries opening round.

WATCH: TICKFORD TRIO PREVIEW ESERIES ROUND 1

The historic Italian circuit is filled with several trademark straights, which has generally led to Formula 1 teams getting their drivers to take it in turns to ‘tow’ the other along in qualifying.

That tactic could be in play among Supercars stars for tonight’s qualifying.

Prior to the 7pm broadcast, qualifying sessions will take place at Phillip Island and Monza to set the grid for Race 1 and 3, respectively. The middle race will be a reverse-grid format at Phillip Island.

Le Brocq declared teammate slipstreaming will be a worthwhile exercise, with his four-car Tickford Racing outfit having already discussed the ploy.

“We’ve tried practising a couple of times and every time you seem to spray the lap for some reason or another,” Le Brocq told Supercars.com.

“But there is definitely merit in there if you can get it to work and make it happen.

“It’s all good fun, we’ll keep chipping away and if we can snag a tow from each other, we’ll take it.

“It would definitely help, it’s worth quite a few tenths around the Monza circuit with a lot of long straights so yeah it should be pretty cool.”

Another intriguing element will be how drivers handle the strategy side of the sport themselves, with a decision of when to take a compulsory pitstop for the second and third races of the night in their hands.

“Some people might be better prepared and understand these sims more but for me I’m still learning a lot in terms of tyre deg and how aggressive you can be,” he said.

“But yeah all of those circumstances coming into play – if you’re struggling to get past someone, you probably look at pitting early and undercutting because there is definitely a new tyre advantage out of the pits.

“So it’s pretty cool from that aspect, you’ve got to be smart about it. It’s going to be very interesting.”

With far less simulator experience than some of his competitors, Le Brocq’s main target is to make it through any potential first round carnage simply “in one piece”.

The Eseries will be broadcast on Fox Sports, Kayo, 10 Play and Sky Sports New Zealand, plus streamed on Supercars’ Facebook and Twitch channels.