Drivers wary of attacking Gold Coast kerbs

Drivers are wary of how the Gen3 Supercars will cope with the crash-bash nature of flying over the kerbs at the notorious Gold Coast street circuit this weekend.

Ever since Gen3 first rolled out at Newcastle it has been clear the new cars have been more fragile than their predecessors with even slight glances of the wall at Albert Park requiring major work.

The sight of cars flying through the Beach Chicane is one of the highlights of the season and without tyre bundles it will be interesting to see how they push the boundaries until the sensors strike.

But the fragility of the front bars and other parts may mean nursing the Gen3 Camaros and Mustangs over the aggressive kerbs could have a major say on proceedings at the Gold Coast.

Drivers are already conscious of the care they will need to take through turns one to three and the turn eight Beach Chicane.

Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner predicts the drivers may not be able to go all-out attack mode on the streets of Surfers Paradise this year.

Andre Heimgartner rides the turn five kerb at Sandown. Image: Peter Norton

“Gen3 here will be a different challenge,” the Kiwi said.

“We have seen even at the AGP which does not have massive kerbs when you hit a tyre bundle the front bar sort of disintegrates.

“These cars are going to be a little different and tricky, so you need to manage that throughout the race.”

“They are weak in front, so it will be interesting to see how they handle all that kerb ride,” Courtney continued.

“We have taken out the tyre bundles for the first three practice sessions just to see how the cars react.

“Supercars have put in some new timing loops to see when we are cutting the chicanes, so a little bit of technology to keep the racing a bit cleaner.”

Whilst Mark Winterbottom was not afraid to voice his disappointment of the removal of tyre bundles for the Gold Coast 500, former teammate Will Davison is hopeful the new sensors can provide the consistency everyone is hoping for when it comes to kerb strikes.

Will Davison at the last street event in Townsville.

He also believes cars may not get quite as much air as previous years when bouncing over kerbs.

“Last year we were all very frustrated by the inconsistency of the sensors, but tyre bundles can cause big incidents as well,” he said.

“Supercars has been great working with the drivers this year to find the best compromise there is.

“It is going to save the teams some money because we won’t be tearing up so many front splitters.

“Lets hope the waring accuracy of the system through to the drivers dash will be good and at least we can have a reference point in the chicanes and not a mystical line that you don’t know where it is.

“I am not sure if the cars will stand up on two wheels as much as last year which may also help as well.”

The Gold Coast 500 begins at 13.30 AEDT on Friday.

Photo by Mark Horsburgh / LAT Images

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