Tyre bundles return to Beach Chicane for 2026 event
Bundles in place at Turns 8 and 9, with option for Turn 10
Kerb hop timing loop installed at Turn 10
Eyes will be on the Gold Coast chicanes at this weekend's Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, after changes to the iconic beach section were ratified.
Confirmed in recent days, tyre bundles will be installed on the Beach Chicane at Turns 8 and 9, with an option to add a third at Turn 10 if deemed necessary.
The Beach Chicane has undergone several different guises in its history, yet the configuration has largely remained the same in the Supercars era. What hasn't changed, is cars getting air in one of the more unique and entertaining spectacles of the Supercars season, and world motorsport in general.
Tickford Racing driver Thomas Randle, who has completed simulation work with the 2026-style chicane, believes the latest changes — with bundles also moved two metres back from the kerb lip — are the most logical yet.
"I think the solution they've come up with is the best one,” Randle told Supercars.com.
"As cool as it looks, apart from being extremely hard on the cars, when you get all four wheels in the air, technically you're not really in control, are you?
“You can still take plenty of kerb. You'll still get two wheels well and truly off the ground. From that point of view, it's still going to be really exciting.
"And the good thing is, is that the way they've moved them back, you're not going to be ruining your front splitter. Turn 10 normally, if you take too much, it's self-policing because you’ve ended up hopping it and you get a bad run."
Broc Feeney — who famously went viral on social media with his spirited run through the Beach Chicane last year — claimed something needed to be done.
"The conversations go back nearly 12 months ago, pretty much straight after the round they were speaking about what they were gonna do," Feeney told media on Tuesday.
"It's a hard one, because I was pretty much all four, trying to make some difference. I think the ideal solution would be just going slower at the start of the chicane and still being able to jump through there, get cool TV shots.
"Honestly, if something went wrong through there, it could've been extremely bad, so I think they needed to do something.
"It's a shame that we don't have the cool videos going around, and I probably can't keep posting the same old Instagram story, but it wasn't that much fun last year inside the car.
"I think if they didn't have it this weekend, we probably wouldn't be jumping it in the rain anyway."
Randle and Feeney know better than most of the risks that come with hitting bundles. Both drivers were taken out of the 2022 finale in a wild incident triggered by James Golding centre-punching the bundle at Turn 10.
Critically, the weekend will commence with bundles at Turns 8 and 9 only, with the Turn 10 bundle notorious for causing the most damage.
“Bundles have always been a hot topic,” Randle said.
“They can't change the profile of the corners, so all they can really do is put a deterrent, and that's why they've gone with the bundles. But they've moved them back two metres, and in simulation, it actually seemed pretty good.
“The good thing is, is that there isn't a bundle at Turn 10. That’s normally the one that causes the most grief, because if you try and carry a lot of speed through [Turn] 8, then to survive 9, you have to abort 10.
“We've seen people abort late, which is obviously what happened with Jimmy."
On the bundles, Feeney added: "We are probably against tyre bundles, just due to the fact that if you hit one, it's pretty bad. I think the tyre bundle on the right, the one that we were jumping, is fine.
"But the ones on the left, if you make a mistake at the start of the chicane, and you can't bail out and you hit a tyre bundle, I got in a big crash in 2022 because one of the drivers did that. I'm all for the tyre bundle on the right, I'm certainly not for it on the left."
Mark Winterbottom won on the Gold Coast in 2011 when bollards were installed at both chicanes. Such was the proximity of the bollards to the kerbs, that drivers almost had to snake around the chicanes, preventing airtime.
Speaking on Supercars' The Run Home podcast, Winterbottom said: "I think you need some consequence. Last year, the way they were flying, you don't know what's gonna happen when they land.
“As a spectacle, it's unbelievable. But in the car, it's actually quite brutal, and you can feel it through the machinery and through your body.
"I remember 2012 when they flicked the sensor off, and we were going flat out through the chicane in fourth gear and the approach speed to [Turn] 11 and the car was flying.
“Imagine you don't get through the top seven because you land and the damper fails. It’s just putting a lot of risk on this championship for something that can be controlled.
“I think the mix that they've got is right. The tyre bundle gives you a reference because when you hit the tyre bundle, you can often do front damage to the splitter. So there is a limiting factor, which is, which is good."
Track action commences on Friday with dual practice sessions and Boost Mobile Qualifying.
