How the new Super Soft tyre performed in Gen3 test

Dunlop and Supercars are "very happy" with the performance of the new-for-2022 compound of the Super Soft tyre.

The Super Soft tyre, which will be used at five events in 2022, has been given a facelift for the new season.

Not only is the tyre softer, but it will feature an all-new blue tyre wall.

Dunlop’s softest compound was tested for the first time on Tuesday with the Gen3 prototypes.

The long-time Supercars control tyre maker hoped the tyre would drop off around the 60km mark.

Both prototypes completed 15 laps of the three-kilometre Queensland Raceway on Tuesday.

Both cars began their runs in the 1m09s bracket, with drivers holding the time for the first three laps.

For the next four to five laps, the times dropped into the 1m10s bracket.

By the end of the 15 laps, cars were clocking 1m12s and low 1m13s laps.

James Courtney did the Super Soft running in the Ford Mustang GT, with Broc Feeney aboard the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Courtney suffered a spin at Turn 5 on one of his laps.

Tim Slade got behind the wheel of the Mustang in the afternoon and did two laps with Super Softs.

All told, Dunlop operations manager Kevin Fitzsimons was delighted with the early signs.

"It went very well," Fitzsimons told Supercars.com.

"The way the tyre performed, it hit the nail on the head on what the Supercars tech department was after.

"After the 60km mark, here [at Queensland Raceway] after 18 to 20 laps, it was dropping off.

"It was around about a second faster than the standard Soft tyre.

"We’re very happy, it’s basically exactly what we were after.

"We just hope it transitions across to the current cars, and we’ll be very happy."

The updated Super Soft will make its first appearance at the season-opening Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.

It will be wholly used at Symmons Plains, Winton and Darwin, and will also be used in Townsville.

Supercars motorsport head Adrian Burgess was pleased to witness similar trends of degradation across both cars.

"It’s a good step softer than the Soft, which is what you’d expect," Burgess told Supercars.com of the new Super Soft.

"We’re validating it for this year’s racing, and we’ll use it first-up in Sydney for a portion of the race.

"Both cars recorded similar trends looking at the stopwatch.

"The peak lap time was a second quicker, then it degraded on a pretty steep curve."

Tuesday’s running was headlined by the recommencement of the Gen3 prototype testing programme.

The prototypes have been testing on the Hard, Soft and Super soft compounds Supercars currently uses.

Dunlop and Supercars are continuing development on tyres, with work still required to decide what compound of tyre the cars should run on in 2023.

"We’re running through a range of tyres we’ve got," Burgess said.

"We’ve got different tyres we’ve used and we’re developing tyres too.

"This is only one circuit, we’ll try the range elsewhere to make sure we get the right tyre on the car for 2023."

The 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Sydney in March. CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.