Resurfaced Adelaide could deliver record lap times
Existing Adelaide Supercars lap records are likely to come under threat when the series returns next month.
The VALO Adelaide 500 will conclude the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship.
The last Adelaide event was held in February 2020.
Key to the Adelaide 500’s revival has been major resurfacing works of the 3.22km circuit.
More than 70 per cent of the Adelaide Parklands has been resurfaced, from the braking zone at Turn 9 through to the entry of Turn 7.
It’s the biggest resurfacing works in the circuit’s history, and will likely contribute to the fastest Supercars Adelaide lap times.
Resurfacing has also smoothed out bumps, notably into the run to Turn 4.
Supercars will run on all four days of the December 1-4 event.
Practice 1 (Thursday) and Race 33 qualifying (Friday) will be held in cool late afternoon conditions.
The first practice session will commence at 4:25pm local time on the Thursday.
Drivers will then set the running order for Saturday’s Shootout at 6:05pm on Friday evening.
That session looms to be the quickest of the weekend, given the expected daytime heat.
Shane van Gisbergen holds the qualifying record, a 1:19.295s set back in 2017.
Van Gisbergen clocked the time in Sunday morning qualifying, a day after he scored pole with a 1:19.572s.
The race lap record, meanwhile, remains a 1:20.379s set by Chaz Mostert in 2019.
Mostert's 1:19.241s in 2020 practice is the outright lap record in a Supercar.
Van Gisbergen recently inspected the track works, and gave a glowing appraisal of the new surface.
"We have had some past experiences at this track but it will be completely different now,” he said.
“There are no bumps and hopefully more grip.
"It is a completely new surface, it looks beautiful."
This year's event, like the 2020 Adelaide 500, will be run solely on the Dunlop Hard tyre compound.
In contrast, the record times in 2017 and 2019 came on Soft tyres, albeit on an aged surface.
Adelaide will be one of just three events, after Pukekohe and Bathurst, to be run exclusively on the Hard tyre.
Drivers will have a practice session prior to Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout.
Drivers will complete qualifying, a Shootout and another 78-lap race on the Sunday.
Each driver will have eight pre-marked Hard tyres, which they will hand back after practice.
There are 32 even-marked tyres, or eight sets, from qualifying onwards.
