Resurfaced Adelaide a 'whole new challenge'
The newly-resurfaced Adelaide Parklands Circuit is proving a “whole new challenge” across categories.
Supercars hit the track for Practice 1 on Thursday afternoon.
Macauley Jones was first to fall foul of the 3.2km circuit, the Brad Jones Racing driver crashing at Turn 8.
Friday morning’s action has already claimed a number of cars, with Triple Eight encountering a double GT disaster.
Prince Jefri Ibrahim crashed at the final corner, before Jamie Whincup crashed at the Senna Chicane.
The Supercars session featured a number of near-misses, with Brodie Kostecki one to be caught out.
Kostecki — who was second in Practice 1 — made a smart save when his #99 Boost Mobile Commodore crossed up off the Turn 2 kerb.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Kostecki said after the session.
“It’s loose out there, the surface is really fast. It’s gonna get quite a bit quicker throughout the weekend.
“Bit of a learning curve for myself, just trying to get myself up to speed. It’s really easy to make a mistake.
“I thought the old surface was hard, but this is definitely a whole new challenge.”
The circuit has been resurfaced from Turn 9 to Turn 7.
The Turn 9 braking zone proved a key point of contention, with several drivers encountering locking.
The old surface meets the new surface into Turn 9, which also features prominent bumps.
Thomas Randle, who topped the session, said: "Probably one of the biggest challenges is braking for Turn 9.
"Because when you first hit the brakes, you’re on the old surface, and then it changes to the new surface.
“There’s actually a little bit of a hump where the surfaces merge and that can make it, so far, a little bit tricky.”
The grippier surface has also, so far, taken the sting out of the Turn 1 kerb.
The resurfacing has raised the height of the road surface and effectively lowered the heights of the kerbs.
"Obviously it feels a lot smoother in the parts that have been resurfaced,” Randle continued.
“To be honest, the Turn 2 kerb actually still feels… pretty bloody aggressive.
"Turn 1 is a little bit smoother, but Turn 2 still feels pretty big.
"I guess the staircase section [Turns 4 to 7] probably feels a little bit not as aggressive.
"I guess the surface has been laid on top of the old one, so, technically, all the kerbs should feel lower."
Cars will return to the Adelaide Parklands Circuit for Practice 2 on Friday at 1:15pm local time.
Friday’s schedule will also feature ARMOR ALL Qualifying for Race 33 at 5:35pm.
Tickets for the VALO Adelaide 500 are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
