How fuel strategy could decide Bathurst 1000 winners
By Andrew Clarke
Date posted: 8 October 2023
All the talk has been around how you can win Bathurst with the fewest stops possible – but maybe the answer is not the minimising of stops but being a bit more about maximising fuel flow. Andrew Clarke talks alternative strategies with Tickford’s Tim Edwards.
Plenty has been spoken about removing the requirement of at least seven stops and the now real possibility of five or six, but more may be a better approach.
The new cars are expected to be able to run 30 laps on a tank of fuel, which means five stops – or four if there are plenty of Safety Cars and some fuel saving.
But with the history of the race revealing the only stop that really matters is the final one, and how much quicker that is than your rivals, an alternative strategy may be better.
The soon-to-be-departing Tickford Team Principal Tim Edwards says the devil is in the detail and that a combination of fill time and tyre life opens the strategy, with the height of the fuel tank relative to the fuel rig throwing in a new variable.
There is plenty for team principals such as Tickford’s Tim Edwards to ponder to win the Great Race. Image:Mark Horsburgh
“It’s interesting though because even though there’s a 135-litre tank, unless you have to, you might not want to fill the last 35,” Edwards says.
“The tank is so high inside the car now that when you start to put that last bit of fuel in the top of the tank, the height of that versus the now low height in the fuel tower, there’s not much height difference, so you lose flow rate at the end.”
He said the height difference from the start of a fill to the end may halve and that has a consequential effect on the flow rates. Watching that bit of fuel going into the car at such a slow rate may change the plan.
“You’ve got over a metre of difference in head pressure, it will be really slow for that last part,” Edwards continues.
“You might run a strategy at Bathurst where you’re only ever going to put 100 litres into the car because your pit stop is so much slower.
“You might work it out and go, ‘Well, you know what? From a tyre point of view, we’re probably better off if we still do seven stops, which means we’re only going to put in 100 litres versus someone who’s going to do 135 at each stop and they’re only going to do five stops or six stops, but their pit stop is going to be 30 seconds longer because it’s so slow putting that last bit of fuel.”
Refuelling will be one of the deciding factors of the 2023 Great Race. Image: Ross Gibb Photography
With estimates stretching out to 30 or more laps for a tank of fuel and no rules around minimum stops, race strategy opens up. There is a two-and-half-hour maximum for any driver in any stint with a one-hour break and all drivers must run at least 54 Laps.
Here are some strategy options, ignoring Safety Cars. Keep in mind that 30 laps will be more than 60 minutes and that the 2.5 hour maximum will be around 68 laps without Safety Cars – meaning Lap 93 is the critical number, if the race is green, to allow a lead driver to get home.
Main Image: Mark Horsburgh
Potential Bathurst 1000 strategy options
Old Philosophy (Short Fill at Lap 140)
Stop 1 – 0-30 Laps – Co-Driver
Stop 2 – 31-60 Laps – Lead Driver
Stops 3 and 4 – 61-100 – Co-Driver
Stop 5 and 6 – 101-161 – Lead Driver
The Barclay Option (Short Fill at Lap 140)
Stop 1 – 0-30 Laps – Lead Driver
Stop 2 – 31-60 Laps – Co-Driver
Stop 3 – 61-90 – Lead-Driver
Stop 4 – 91-110 – Co-Driver
Stop 5 and 6 – 111-161 – Lead Driver
The Gun Co-Driver Option (Short Fill at Lap 150)
Stop 1 – 0-30 Laps – Lead Driver
Stop 2 – 31-60 Laps – Co-Driver
Stop 3 – 61-90 – Lead-Driver
Stop 4 – 91-130 – Co-Driver
Stop 5 and 6 – 121-161 – Lead Driver
The Short-Fill Option (Short Fill at Lap 145)
Stop 1 and 2 – 0-40 Laps – Co-Driver
Stop 3 and 4 – 41-80 Laps – Lead Driver
Stop 5 – 81-100 – Co-Driver
Stop 6, 7 and 8 – 101-161 – Lead Driver
Download the full Supercars Bathurst 1000 Round 10 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus extensive driver profiles here
For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION or subscribe HERE
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