Explained: 2024 Melbourne SuperSprint format

The second round of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship, the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint, has perhaps the most unique event of the year.

The season began with two 250km races at the Thrifty Bathurst 500, which featured two pit stops and refuelling.

At the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024, the Supercars season reverts to all-out sprint mode, and there will be no pit stops in the races. However, it’s all to play for, with drivers and teams vying for crucial championship points.

Here’s the state of play for the Melbourne SuperSprint, which could make or break a number of drivers’ seasons early in the new campaign.

Practice

Drivers enjoyed a combined two hours of practice at Mount Panorama last month, but in Melbourne, there’s far less time to get it right.

Supercars is sharing the track with Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, and Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, making for a blockbuster, yet busy, track schedule.

Thursday March 21 is the busiest day for Supercars, which will complete five sessions. However, drivers only get a combined hour of practice.

Practice 1 will commence at 11:25am local time, and is the second session of the whole weekend after first Carrera Cup practice. It is followed by Practice 2 at 1:35pm, which follows another Porsche session and demonstration session.

Qualifying

After Practice 2 on Thursday, drivers have just 50 minutes to get their cars ready for Race 3 Qualifying, which will set the grid for the first race of the weekend. There's even less time to prepare for Race 4 Qualifying, which will commence straight after.

Drivers won't have to qualify again until Saturday morning, with the Saturday and Sunday grids settled by back-to-back Qualifying sessions.

Each Qualifying session is just 15 minutes in length, meaning drivers will get at least two runs to set a lap. However, given lap times with Soft tyres will be approximately 105 seconds, there is little margin for error.

Races

The MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint is the only round of the 2024 season that has four races. The Bathurst 500, Taupō, Perth, Darwin, Townsville, Sydney, Tasmania, Gold Coast and Adelaide rounds have two races each, while the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 are single-race enduros.

The Melbourne round is also the only event to have a race on each day of the weekend, including a Supercars race on a Thursday for just the second time.

The Thursday and Friday races are 20 laps (105km) in length, while the Saturday and Sunday races are 15 laps (80km).

Race 3 (Thursday 5:50pm local time) and Race 5 (Saturday 5:35pm) races will be held at twilight, while Race 4, the only Supercars session on the Friday, will start at 2:50pm.

The final race of the weekend, Race 6, will commence at 10:20am, before the Australian Grand Prix at 3:00pm.

Points

All four races will count towards the championship, and the winner can score a maximum of 80 points; 75 for the win, and five fastest lap bonus points.

For the first time in 2024, bonus points will be on offer. Drivers can score an additional five points if they set the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish in the top 15.

Beyond the championship, there is extra incentive to score big across all four races, with the lead point-scorer across the weekend being awarded the Larry Perkins Trophy.

Tyres and strategy

In a throwback to the late 1990s, the four races won't have compulsory pit stops.

There are no undercuts and overcuts here, just hardcore racing from lights out to the chequered flag.

Unlike the 2022 and 2023 rounds, this year's Melbourne SuperSprint won't feature mixed tyre compound racing. It will, however, be used on the latest Dunlop Soft tyre compound. For reference, the 2023 event will held on both the Hard and Super Soft compounds.

Drivers will have four pre-marked tyres, and 28 event-marked tyres (seven sets) to use across the weekend, which will keep drivers guessing on when to attack, and when to save.

Live coverage of the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024, featuring the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint, will be shown on Foxtel and Kayo.

2024 MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint: Session times

All times AEDT

Thursday March 21

Friday March 22

Saturday March 23

Sunday March 24