The Prebrief: The key storylines in Townsville
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The Repco Supercars Championship heads back to the North Queensland for this weekend’s seventh round of the 2022 season – the NTI Townsville 500.
With big kerbs and hybrid street circuit layout, Reid Park always delivers spectacular racing.
Townsville also sees a return to longer-format racing with two 250-kilometre races set to be run under the hot North Queensland sun, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Shane van Gisbergen enters the weekend with a reduced 214-championship point lead over Shell V-Power Racing’s Anton De Pasquale.
Last time out in Darwin was a rare winless weekend for van Gisbergen, with De Pasquale, Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert all claiming victory.
Could there be another new winner on the cards?
Longer format racing returns
The NTI Townsville 500 is the first dual-250-kilometre race event since the Sydney opener in March.
It will be the first time since Sydney Motorsport Park that the fuel rigs will be in use, with two compulsory stops during each race.
It means strategy and fuel loads come back into play.
The first Townsville event on the new 2022 Dunlop Super Soft tyre compound will also be the major talking point of the weekend.
Running will be on both the Hard and Super Soft tyre this weekend, with teams required to use both dry tyre compounds in Race 19 and Race 20.
Townsville is notoriously hard on tyres, especially rears, so there will be a lot more degradation seen in comparison to Darwin.
Expect to see some cars fall off the proverbial cliff.
Risky business
The NTI Townsville 500, the second street circuit event of the season, will be headlined by two 250km-long, 88-lap races.
The last time the championship saw a concrete jungle was when Albert Park hosted the Melbourne 400 in April.
Reid Park is a half street, half purpose-built, 2.86-kilometre track that sits just outside the Townsville CBD.
In typical street circuit fashion, any mistake is punished by the concrete barriers that surround the track.
After five-straight sprint events, both the long-distance and hybrid layout could see some drivers come unstuck.
“It’s hard to do a whole race distance,” Percat said.
“We’re coming off a string of sprint rounds, where the races are shorter.
“Coming back Sunday morning after a long race on Saturday, there’ll be a few sore bodies.
“You’ve got to qualify again and do over 70 laps of this gruelling track. Street tracks are hard enough; throw a long race into the mix, just adds to it.
“I expect a few more mistakes from the driver’s side of things. Just surviving... it’s so easy to make a mistake.
"You miss one of your marks by five centimetres, it’s all over.”
Van Gisbergen’s form in the ‘Ville
Van Gisbergen heads to Townsville carrying a championship lead over Shell V-Power Racing’s Anton De Pasquale.
Despite not reaching the top step of the podium in Darwin, the championship leader limited the damage by finishing third in Races 16 and 17.
Van Gisbergen was strong in Far North Queensland last year, clocking up his 50th Supercars win, and dual one-two finishes for the Red Bulls at the circuit.
The New Zealand racer has 15 podiums to his name at Reid Park, the highest of any active driver.
Triple Eight has won 13 of the last 19 races at Reid Park, including three of the last five.
However, one DNF, and his 214-point lead could come crashing down in a heartbeat; the two races this weekend are worth 150 points each for victory.
B-Feen’s time to shine?
Broc Feeney has made a big impact in 2022, his first aboard the #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing Commodore.
Although winless so far this season, Feeney has clocked up 12 top 10 results including a podium in only his fourth ever Supercars race.
He nearly made it two in the Darwin finale, running in third position with little over one lap remaining.
Now, after a string of circuits that he has never raced a Supercar at before, Feeney returns to a fruitful venue.
The 19-year-old dominated the first Dunlop Super2 round at Townsville last year, winning two races and topping all six sessions across the weekend.
Now in a Supercar and with the Triple Eight’s dominant form at Reid Park, the stage is set for Feeney to shine.
Could this be B-Feen’s best chance yet to score his first Supercars win?
Championship changing chance for Cam?
Cam Waters has championship glory in his sights after another race win in Darwin.
The Tickford Racing driver won Race 17 in the Top End, holding off Will Davison and a charging van Gisbergen.
He scored a podium in the Hidden Valley finale, seeing him rise to 74 points adrift of second-place De Pasquale.
Waters is far from an outside chance in Townsville, winning two sprint races at the venue last season, including a thrilling finale showdown with van Gisbergen.
Tickford struggled with the longer format races at the circuit last season but found something for the final sprint round in Far North Queensland.
With a run of good results and heading to a happy hunting ground, Waters could continue his winning ways at Reid Park.
Golding returns
James Golding has been confirmed as Garry Jacobson’s replacement at PremiAir Racing.
The NTI Townsville 500 marks his first main game start since 2019.
Golding will hit the track for dual practice sessions on Friday, 956 days since his last Supercars appreance.
Engineering shake-ups
A number of key engineering changes could alter the pecking order in Townsville.
Anton De Pasquale, who is second in the points, will be without regular race engineer Ludo Lacroix.
Shell V-Power Racing Team technical director Mark Fenning will substitute Lacroix on the #11 Mustang.
Elsewhere, Geoffrey Slater will return to the fold with PremiAir Racing.
He will engineer Chris Pither, whose former engineer Sheldon Auhl shifts to the sister car.
The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to North Queensland this weekend for the NTI Townsville 500. Tickets are available here.
The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.
