EXCLUSIVE: SUPERCARS ‘PARC FERME’ TRIAL

Supercars will trial a Formula 1-style freeze on changes between qualifying and racing at Symmons Plains early next month.

By MARK FOGARTY

AUTO ACTION has learned that the teams have been notified that the cars will have to be raced in the configuration in which they qualified.

That means fuel loads, tyres, suspension set-ups, engine mapping and aero settings used to gain grid positions must be retained for the start of each race.

To enforce the no-change dictate, Supercars officials will impose a ‘parc ferme’ curfew between the end of qualifying and the beginning of the race on each day of the Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains, near Launceston, from April 6-7.

It is an experiment to see if making the teams race their cars in qualifying configuration – or vice versa – will mix up the racing by introducing more strategy options.

Teams will be forced to choose between configuring cars for ultimate speed and prime starting positions – possibly at the cost of a necessarily short opening race stint – or a compromised qualifying set-up that is better for the race.

AA understands the trial will be repeated in the Ipswich SuperSprint at Queensland Raceway at the end of July.

The idea is modelled on F1’s practice of imposing parc ferme – French for ‘closed park’ – on the top 10 cars between final qualifying and the race.

In F1, no work is allowed on the cars between qualifying on the Saturday and Sunday’s race other than authorised maintenance or damage repairs.

The top 10 have to start the race with the same tyres, fuel load and mechanical set-up as used to secure their starting positions.

Supercars rule-makers are still finalising the range of restrictions on changes and whether they will be imposed on the whole field or, like F1, just the top 10.

The latter is a consideration because the Symmons Plains and Queensland Raceway sprint race rounds will use the three-phase qualifying format tried successfully at selected events last year.

The post-qualifying parc ferme trials were approved by the Supercars Commission some time ago and broad guidelines have been formally communicated to the teams.

The intention to try limits on changes to the cars after qualifying is outlined in the Tasmania SuperSprint’s supplementary regulations, which have been distributed to the Supercars squads but are not available publicly.

In qualifying, teams routinely configure cars for optimum one-lap speed, using minimal fuel loads, fresh tyres, different springs and suspension settings, and sometimes altered aero settings within the restrictive range of the rules and cooling system blanking to reduce air resistance.

They are then changed before the race to suit the teams’ planned pit stop strategies, which are often the same because years of experience have established the best approach barring safety car interventions or race-interrupting incidents.

Supercars officials hope the parc ferme trials will result in more varied strategies and less predictable outcomes, leading to more widespread adoption in 2020.

There would also be the side benefit that team personnel would have time for a proper lunch break on the Saturdays and Sundays at sprint race events, whereas now the time between qualifying and the race each day is often consumed by reconfiguring the cars.

However, the move is likely to opposed by purists, who point out that final qualifying is the only time the cars are seen in full flight, lapping as quickly as they can achieve in the conditions.

Officials are aware of this concern and are remaining open-minded, trialling the idea to see if the potential racing benefits outweigh the compromised qualifying speed.

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