The Australian Supercars Championship is implementing some changes for the forthcoming Bathurst 1000, headlined by the use of a harder tire compound that will hopefully mitigate the tire degradation that plagued teams during the 2023 running of the enduro race. Ford Supercars driver, Thomas Randle, seems optimistic about the change.
In an interview from Supercars.com, Randle, who drives the No. 55 Ford Mustang GT fielded by Tickford Racing, said that he’s looking forward to racing on the Dunlop Hard tire. He hopes that the harder compound won’t result in as much rubber buildup on track as was seen last year.
“I think everyone would agree that the Hard tire is the preferred option, especially for such a long race like that,” Randle said. “Obviously, it should make for less deg than the Soft tire. But also last year with the Soft, there was so much rubber built up offline that it meant you couldn’t really drive anywhere else on the track, because it was like a single file line.”
He added, “In terms from for racing, should you want to try and pass people, in theory it should make it easier because you’re not risking going offline in all the crap.”
Teams will also be able to outfit their race cars with an intermediate “hard-wet” tire exclusively for the race. However, right now, the forecast looks sunny and bright for the Bathurst race weekend on October 10th through 13th, so that may not even be a factor.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how the strategy plays out, in terms of fuel saving, stint lengths, and the fact that the main driver has to start,” Randle said. “It will make it interesting from a strategy point of view to see what people do with their co-drivers.”
Randle will share the No. 55 Ford Supercars Mustang with Tyler Everingham in the 2024 Bathurst 1000.
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