New enduro format gets backing
By Robert Grant
September 11, 2008 AUSTRALIA'S leading V8 Supercar drivers have thrown their support behind this weekend's radical format for the 500km Phillip Island enduro.
The first long-distance race at Phillip Island in 30 years will be run under a new schedule which demands as much input from the co-driver as the team's number one.
Under the program, two 14-lap races will be run on Saturday, which will determine the grid order for the Sunday endurance race.
Each team's first driver will compete in the first race while their second driver will compete in the second race.
To enliven the initiative every car has to make one compulsory pit stop in either of the two races, meaning strategy will come into play to get the best grid position for Sunday.
Championship leader Garth Tander said the format of the race at Phillip Island would provide both a challenge and a good spectacle.
Tander, who will co-drive with five-time champion Mark Skaife, said tyre conservation would be especially vital.
It'll be an interesting weekend because while they don't really mean much, there are some points attached (to the Saturday races), Tander said.
But really, the 500km race on Sunday is what we're really there for and I think the team that thinks on its feet strategy-wise will do the best, because we're not going to know what tyre life is going to be like until we get there.
Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom, who will team with Steven Richards, said losing the lead in the championship to Tander during the last round at Winton might have been a positive.
These next two races are the most important in the season and the worst approach would have been complacency, Winterbottom said.
I'm certainly not that (complacent) now. We've put all our eggs in one basket with me and Richo being in the one car, so we've got to get a good result or both our championships suffer.
We could have teamed up with our other drivers and split the odds, but we (both) want to win."
Stone Brothers Ford driver James Courtney said the new format should benefit the series, describing it as "a step into the unknown."
There are a lot of new elements with the separate driver and co-driver qualifying and races and other things such as the restrictions with the fuel stops, Courtney said.
It's going to really mix it up which is a good thing for V8 Supercars and for the fans.
There are some really good driver combinations in the enduros with a lot of teams pairing their two main drivers together."
The switch from the traditional Sandown track to Phillip Island for the Bathurst 1000 lead-up also got the thumbs up.
Lee Holdsworth from Garry Rogers Motorsport said Sandown was more of a "horsepower track."
Phillip Island is a bit more of a driver's track and we have new engines now, so I'm looking forward to Phillip Island," he said.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24330163-23770,00.html
By Robert Grant
September 11, 2008 AUSTRALIA'S leading V8 Supercar drivers have thrown their support behind this weekend's radical format for the 500km Phillip Island enduro.
The first long-distance race at Phillip Island in 30 years will be run under a new schedule which demands as much input from the co-driver as the team's number one.
Under the program, two 14-lap races will be run on Saturday, which will determine the grid order for the Sunday endurance race.
Each team's first driver will compete in the first race while their second driver will compete in the second race.
To enliven the initiative every car has to make one compulsory pit stop in either of the two races, meaning strategy will come into play to get the best grid position for Sunday.
Championship leader Garth Tander said the format of the race at Phillip Island would provide both a challenge and a good spectacle.
Tander, who will co-drive with five-time champion Mark Skaife, said tyre conservation would be especially vital.
It'll be an interesting weekend because while they don't really mean much, there are some points attached (to the Saturday races), Tander said.
But really, the 500km race on Sunday is what we're really there for and I think the team that thinks on its feet strategy-wise will do the best, because we're not going to know what tyre life is going to be like until we get there.
Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom, who will team with Steven Richards, said losing the lead in the championship to Tander during the last round at Winton might have been a positive.
These next two races are the most important in the season and the worst approach would have been complacency, Winterbottom said.
I'm certainly not that (complacent) now. We've put all our eggs in one basket with me and Richo being in the one car, so we've got to get a good result or both our championships suffer.
We could have teamed up with our other drivers and split the odds, but we (both) want to win."
Stone Brothers Ford driver James Courtney said the new format should benefit the series, describing it as "a step into the unknown."
There are a lot of new elements with the separate driver and co-driver qualifying and races and other things such as the restrictions with the fuel stops, Courtney said.
It's going to really mix it up which is a good thing for V8 Supercars and for the fans.
There are some really good driver combinations in the enduros with a lot of teams pairing their two main drivers together."
The switch from the traditional Sandown track to Phillip Island for the Bathurst 1000 lead-up also got the thumbs up.
Lee Holdsworth from Garry Rogers Motorsport said Sandown was more of a "horsepower track."
Phillip Island is a bit more of a driver's track and we have new engines now, so I'm looking forward to Phillip Island," he said.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24330163-23770,00.html
