Reynolds: Lap Record "to be Hosed"

ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600 winner David Reynolds has no doubt the lap record will be “hosed” at Phillip Island this weekend after the circuit’s resurface.

Reynolds – who broke through for his first win on the Gold Coast last month – believes the new generation racers will be seconds quicker, and it will be like driving a different race, when comparing to previous years.

“Obviously the surface has been redone, which changes the whole dynamic of a race track,” the Bottle-O racer told v8supercars.com.au ahead of the Sargent Security Phillip Island 360.

“Now we come back, we’ve got new cars, a new surface – it’s almost going to be like a new race.

“For a driver, your braking markers change a bit, your corner speeds are up, your references are a bit out because old markings on the track aren’t there anymore.

"It’s just going to be an entirely different race track – the kerb profiling might be different so it’s just something to look out for.”

Earlier in the week Erebus Motorsport V8’s Lee Holdsworth predicted cars under the 1min30 mark – keeping in mind the qualifying lap record currently sits at 1min32.0713, which was set by Craig Lowndes in 2000. Lowndes also holds the race lap record, set last year, a 1min33.2700 set on the Dunlop control tyre.

“That would be pretty cool if it was a 29-something – that’d be pretty fast!” Reynolds enthused.

V8 Supercars underwent a tyre ratification test in the lead-up to this weekend’s event to assess tyre wear on the new surface, after MotoGP had issues earlier this year. Results indicate there should not be problems and Nick Percat, in the V8 Supercar prototype new generation Holden Commodore, broke the lap record at the 4.44km Victorian circuit early in the day.

However defending Champion, Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup wasn’t as confident records would be broken, but conceded there would definitely be more grip.

“The new surface should be grippier and if we get a relatively cooler day, the cars should be faster without a doubt,” Whincup, who has a decidedly bad record at the Island, said.  

“I don’t know how quick they’ll be – I don’t know if the lap record is going to be broken – but the cars should be faster.

“There’s big potential this weekend. Whether someone does or not is another thing.”

As a rookie having never raced at Phillip Island, Scott McLaughlin doesn’t know exactly what to expect.

“Looking at data and video footage, the brake markers are going to be a lot different, the turning points, some of that stuff is irrelevant and some is relevant – a lot – I think it’s about taking it all on board,” the 20-year old said.

“I did the co-driver session here last year – it was only 30 minutes, I got about 10 laps – I’ve still got an idea of what a V8 Supercar is like around here.

“Obviously our car’s got better grip, it’s got better brakes this year too. Hopefully we can make use of it.”

McLaughlin's #33 Commodore suffered from electrical problems throughout the ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600, and while the team tested the car with no issues in the lead-up to the event, the team is not 100 per cent certain it is fixed.

“Hopefully it’s ok!” McLaughlin said.

“I did 150 laps at Winton, 130 of them were in the wet, so hopefully it doesn’t happen again. If it does, we’re going to have to scratch our heads and keep going… it’s a bad feeling.”

The car has reverted back to its ordinary livery – what McLaughlin calls ‘the Chrome Dome’ is gone, despite team boss Garry Rogers saying it would remain until the finale if unscathed. 

“I said, ‘Nup, I don’t want it, it’s bad luck’.” 

McLaughlin will feature in the first of today’s practice sessions, for rookies and the bottom 50 per cent, beginning at 11.20am ADT.

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