Supercars drivers facing "insane" Gold Coast scenario
Showers forecast across this weekend’s Gold Coast event
Track action commences on Friday in Surfers Paradise
A changing Gold Coast forecast has opened up the possibility of the weekend’s first dry running being in Saturday's Shootout or 250km race.
Showers are forecast across this weekend’s Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, which will feature qualifying for the opening race on Friday.
“Given the forecast, there’s the possibility of the first dry running being a Shootout at the Gold Coast. That is actually crazy,” Tickford Racing driver Thomas Randle told Supercars.com.
“It's certainly something you have to consider. It could be a reality, and I don't know if it's ever happened in the history of Supercars here.
“The first laps in practice there when it's dry are always daunting. It takes you a few laps to get up to speed around there, how much you can commit to the chicanes and get close to the walls, finding the grip levels, all that sort of stuff.
“If you make the Shootout on Friday and it's been wet all day, to then hop in the car, first session on Saturday, possibly being dry, that would be pretty insane.
"It would be super intense for the drivers that make it in, and it'd be a pretty amazing spectacle to watch.”
“To add to that, for all the drivers that didn't make the Shootout, their first dry laps, if Saturday's dry, could be in the race,” Randle continued.
"I don't know what's worse. I mean, you'd probably rather be in the Shootout so you get some dry running. To think you haven't done one lap of that track in the dry, and your first lap is in the race in the dry…
“Normally, it's the other way around. Normally, you go into the race and it's wet, and you haven't done a wet lap at the track, but I can't recall many times where the first dry running is the race or the Shootout.”
Track action commences on Friday with Practice 1 at 11:45am AEST.
