Engineer Preview: SKYCITY Triple Crown

After having engineered Rick Kelly in his Championship-winning yearat HSV Dealer Team, Erik Pender is back working with the 2006 victor – nowon the #15 Nissan Altima. “We’ve just picked up where we left off,” Pendersaid, describing the situation as fantastic.

“The level of competition is incredibly high these days so all thesmall things add up, and having a trusting relationship between driver andengineer makes it that much easier.

“Being part of Nissan Motorsport, in its infancy, is incrediblysatisfying, it’s like a family. Watching it grow and achieve is the bestfeeling.”

Pender talks us through the intricacies of Darwin’s Hidden ValleyRaceway, ahead of the weekend’s SKYCITY Triple Crown 60/60 Super Sprint event.It’s a circuit where the Kelly/Pender pairing has been on the podium in the past. 

V8Supercars.com.au: What are the main characteristics of the circuit?

Pender: "The first thing you notice about Hidden Valleyis its long straight, there is a drag strip running parallel to the mainstraight, so right away all drivers are asking for more horsepower!

"HiddenValley is a “flowing” circuit, unlike the stop/start of a street track. Goodchassis balance is critical to ensure that the driver is comfortable and candrive smoothly to look after the tyres and himself in the heat. The layout alsopresents a lot of good passing opportunities, so watch for lap times fallingaway if the driver is defending."

How will the weekend’s format affect setup and strategy?

"This weekend is the first “mixed” tyre eventfor the season. Each car is allocated five sets of tyres, three hard and twosoft, for the qualifying and racing. The soft compound can only be used onSunday with both compounds required to be used in each race. The first questionto answer on Sunday will be to start or finish on the soft tyre. With limitedtyres available, teams will be focusing on optimum usage management. Duringpractice, all teams will be working on their base setup for both tyrecompounds, as the car is tuned differently for each."

What sort of tyre degradation are you expecting? How will thisimpact setup and strategy?

"Tyre degradation is high at Hidden Valley dueto the track surface and ambient conditions. Having a balanced car will helpwith better tyre life, which in turn, opens up the strategy options."

What aspects of the circuit are you expecting to suit your car andwhat do you have to be mindful of?

"Being only six months into our total cardevelopment we have to be mindful that there is still plenty of work to do. Theteam is focusing on our identified weaknesses to help prioritise our plan ofattack. Prior events have shown that although our new engine is smooth andreliable, we are still lacking for some outright power, something other engineproducers have been fine-tuning over many years. So heading to Hidden Valley weexpect to be able to hold our own, but will have to watch ourselves on the longmain straight. Our form in Austin has given us plenty of confidence."

What are you expecting to be the most important thing to do wellthis weekend?

"As mentioned – a well-balanced car by theend of Friday practice. This will set us up for the whole weekend."