Holdsworth injury triggers safety upgrade at Hidden Valley
A wall of 2,500 tyres has been installed at Hidden Valley to prevent a repeat of the injuries sustained by Lee Holdsworth 12 months ago.
The tyre wall has been placed in front of the left-side concrete fence at the exit of Turn 1 that Holdsworth struck last year.
The side-on, 56G impact with the concrete left Holdsworth with fractures to his pelvis, right knee and two ribs, putting him out for three events.
Holdsworth hit a concrete wall that had been installed between Turns 1 and 4 in 2014 to replace an earth-filled tyre barrier that had rolled Dean Fiore's Holden the previous year.
Facilities development officer for the Northern Territory’s Department of Sport and Recreation, Errol Edwards, says the latest changes were completed within the last fortnight.
The upgrade has been made in accordance with recommendations from the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport’s track safety team, led by Bruce Keys.
“Bruce and the CAMS guys went over the track after the incident happened last year and came back with their recommendations,” Edwards explained to Supercars.com.
“It went straight to the top of our priority list of work to do before this weekend’s event and we’ve followed exactly what they detailed.
The recently installed tyre barrier
“From the start of the guardrail after Turn 1 through to a little way past where the impact happened on the concrete wall is 115 metres of 1,200mm high tyre buffer.
“It’s two rows of tyres deep with a conveyor belt around the outside of it. In all there’s around 2,500 tyres in there, which was a lot to get in a short space of time.
“We’ve also extended the pitlane debris fence further up towards the entrance on their recommendation, as well new lighting for spectators around the back of the circuit.”
Supercars COO Shane Howard praised the continued efforts to improve the Hidden Valley venue.
"Track safety is an ever-evolving process and the NT Government has always been proactive in this area as well as responding quickly when required," he said.
A string of upgrades to Hidden Valley over recent years included a full resurface ahead of the 2015 Supercars event.
This year marks the 20th time that the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has visited Darwin, which became an instant classic when it debuted on the calendar in 1998.
The new tyre wall runs for 115 metres
