Supercars teams, drivers brace for season's longest races
Bend to host first enduro of the year, followed by Bathurst 1000
Longest race distance through opening nine rounds was 200km
Supercars drivers and teams will be on alert as cars and team processes are pushed to the limit across the year's longest races.
After nine rounds of sprint racing, in which the longest single race distance was 200km, cars will be stretched to the limit at the 500km Tailem Bend race, followed by the Bathurst 1000.
Reliability has been a standout feature of the Gen3 era. Per Supercars data analyst Scott Sinclair, the reliability rate in Supercars has improved markedly, writing: "In Supercars specifically, the average DNF rate has steadily decreased from around 16% per race in 2001 to just over 3% this year. That, of course, means nothing if you're one of the casualties."
The final sentence carries the most weight, given how dramas have struck down several big names in big situations in recent years.
Notably, engine issues denied Ryan Wood a Jason Richards Trophy win, and Matt Payne a Repco Sprint Cup win. Broc Feeney, who won both crowns, was denied last year's drivers' title in heartbreaking fashion.
There were three separate engine issues for Ford entries across the week in Ipswich. Investigative work has taken place since Ipswich, while Toyota has taken a series a precautionary measures amid the rollout of the 'B-spec' engine, which suffered a late hit due to Chaz Mostert's Race 28 DNF.
Speaking on Supercars' The Run Home podcast, 2015 champion Mark Winterbottom explained that drivers have been tasked with avoiding over-revving engines on downshifts.
"One thing that you have to focus on is downshifts," said Winterbottom, who also stressed that co-drivers must have "mechanical sympathy" in race starts.
"If you over-rev the engine under downshifts, it's the first thing the data engineers and the engineers will pull up at a race team to say, ‘You had an issue here. How many downshifts have you done over 8500 RPM?’
"All those sort of numbers contribute. Leading into endurance events, mechanical sympathy is a thing. Drivers are told to, 'Do this, do that. Look after the engine. We've got to be there at the end to win it’, and it does come into play.
"Sprint racing's a little bit different. You're trying to deliver fast cars, drive aggressive, win the start, the race is won through raw speed."
Speaking on his Lucky Dogs podcast, Shell V-Power Racing Team star Brodie Kostecki shed light on the measures his team is taking.
"We have one dial for the throttle curve. So if we give 50% throttle on the pedal, then we can ask it to be 70% throttle on the engine, so we have a dial to change that,” Kostecki explained.
"Then we have the blip [dial]. So that’s when we’re blipping, when we’re doing the heel-and-toe, it can change how much throttle percentage we have when we’re on the brake.
"I tried one at the test day which was an engine braking dial. So it changes how much engine braking the car has. You can turn that up from one to nine. I had options. So I had five as my base and I tried less engine braking and that was like trying to stop a train that had no brakes.
"If you have less engine braking, you’re going to try to over-rev more to try and pull the engine up and use the RPM to slow the motor down. If you have more engine braking, you’re going to be less of a chance to over-rev."
All drivers have had their fair share of mechanical heartbreak throughout the years. Winterbottom has had plenty, from fires to brake failures, and everything in between.
Winterbottom, though, reiterated that the net result of a drama could spell disaster for a driver's championship hopes, with the 2026 Finals field to be decided in Bathurst.
"Motorsport and sport in general will always throw the curveball," Winterbottom said.
"That's why it's never over until the fat lady sings, and she hadn't sung. Unfortunately, Matt Payne ended up in the pits and, and it was game over.
"But the ramifications in endurance racing for positions is huge, because 300 points in one race, it multiplies how much a DNF is gonna cost you or how much positions cost you as well.
"So the pressure's on reliability, strategy, pit box execution, mistakes on track, the list goes on. That's why these events are so important."
Track action at The Bend Motorsport Park commences on Friday. Tickets are on sale now.
