As a result, teams had just two days following the Melbourne SuperSprint to pack everything up into containers and Queensland teams could not return home unlike the Victorian teams.
But after a busy and willing weekend at Albert Park, it has still been a big effort by all teams to ensure the annual, popular round in NZ happens.
“We are under similar time pressures (to Queensland teams) we have 48 hours to turn everything around for our freight containers to be picked up and sent,” Tickford’s Matty Roberts confirmed to Auto Action at the end of the Melbourne SuperSprint.
“The Queensland teams will stay here, and we will head to our workshop and have a bit better base.
“But everyone is in the same boat in terms of time constraints and these things are incredibly hard to work on and fortunately we have come away with very little damage, so it should be under control.”
Team 18 offered deeper insight into what it entailed with all essential equipment squeezed into a single 40-foot container, supplemented by access to a communal container shared with two other teams.
Both race cars were placed in the main container, while spare engines engines, transaxles, and wheels were located in a shared space.
The containers set sail on Wednesday morning, 23 days before the Taupo Super400.
“This year, we’re using sea freight for the first time, which is a change from our usual air freight system. Previously, we packed two air freight containers, with the cars stacked inside a plane. Now, we have one 40-foot sea freight container, which needs to fit all of our essential equipment,” said Team 18 Team Manager Mitch Croke.
“In addition to our main container, we also have access to a communal container shared between three teams, where we store additional items like rims, spare engines, and spare transaxles. Inside our main container, we’ve packed both of our race cars along with everything we’d typically take from the transporter straight into the container.
“A key difference this year has been the stricter freight and quarantine regulations. Our container pack lists and quarantine documentation had to be submitted weeks ago to the sea freight company.
“Once our container arrives in New Zealand, Supercars officials, along with border and quarantine staff, will unload and inspect everything before we arrive. Then, when we get to the track on Thursday, we’ll begin our usual unpack and setup process.
“Now that our equipment is en route to New Zealand, we have a bit of a break. We’ll use this time to complete the fit-out of our new workshop, fine-tuning everything to be 100% operational.”
In addition to preparing for New Zealand, Team 18 is also looking to build a new pit stop car after it was stolen during the off season.
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