SHANE van Gisbergen broke through the 300km/h barrier during his last-ditch attempt to make the Top 10 Shootout in Friday qualifying at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
That’s according to Supercars’ GPS data from the #97 Red Bull Camaro, which showed a 300.5km/h maximum speed on Conrod Straight during the lap that earned him seventh in the session.
There had been great expectation that the new Gen3 cars would reach 300km/h this weekend, thanks largely to their reduced downforce levels.
However, the best seen on the official speed trap – which is positioned just short of where the cars reach their ultimate speed into the Chase – has been in the low 290s.
Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton explained that the combination of the conditions and a slipstream allowed van Gisbergen to reach the figure, according to the data.
“It was all depending on the wind,” Dutton explained to V8 Sleuth. “The wind was not helping, but not hurting yesterday.
“Then Shane got a big tow (slipstream), then you get more speed with less drag on the car. You wouldn’t do that same speed in fresh air by yourself, but it was still pretty cool.
“We don’t focus on that, we just focus on lap times. It’s a cool little thing to say ‘hey, we did this’, but you don’t let it distract you.”
It marks the first time a Supercar has officially hit the 300km/h figure.
Previous claims had either been made through a radar gun on the television coverage or calculated wheel speed data that was disputed by other teams.
It’s far from the fastest speed ever recorded on Conrod, however. A Nissan Skyline of Tasmanian Brad Sherriff was clocked at 327km/h at the speed trap in February.
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Speaking during Practice 5 on Saturday morning, van Gisbergen said the slipstream on Conrod was the reason he managed to climb into the Shootout field.
“Thanks to James Courtney, I just got a tow off him,” he said. “We really didn’t have the pace but he just pulled me along, so we snuck in.
“We’ve prioritised the race car, which made us not very good in qualifying.
“With the soft tyre, the deg is so bad. We’re focused on the race car, but we’ll have a go (in the Top 10 Shootout).”
All cars are running with a 0.931 final drive ratio at Bathurst this weekend.
A taller 0.909 was also brought to the circuit in case the cars were hitting the rev limiter at the end of Conrod, but has not been needed.
“It was only to make sure the category wasn’t doing any damage,” said Dutton of the taller gear, noting that the cars aren’t hitting the limiter with the shorter one.
“We don’t honestly care, it’s all about not sitting on the limiter for everyone, because that gives the engine a hard life.
“It’s not just about getting through Bathurst, these days the engines have to last a lot longer than they did many moons ago, to save everyone in pitlane dollars.”
