EPOXY.
It’s a word that may never before have been uttered so many times at a racetrack prior to yesterday’s action at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
The recently applied track sealant was attributed as a factor in the impressive lap times set throughout the opening day of practice, with increased grip available.
It remained a talking point by the close of play.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the epoxy that’s down on the circuit,” said Thursday pacesetter Garth Tander.
“The track grip was probably a little bit inconsistent but you could tell straight away when we went out for (Practice 2) that the track was much more consistent – the grip was much more consistent corner to corner.
“The track is clearly very fast. That’s the fastest I have been around here in a Supercar.”
Tander noted the most intriguing factor about the epoxy could be yet to come, however.
“I think the bigger question is how the epoxy reacts after the cars run on the racetrack tomorrow in the rain, whether the grip comes back to the same level that we had this afternoon,” noted the Red Bull Ampol Racing veteran.
Erebus Motorsport co-driver Jack Perkins was perplexed as to the timing of the sealant application.
“I don’t understand why they choose to maintain the circuit two days before we get here,” he said on the broadcast.
“I think they were putting sealant on the track on Tuesday. I mean someone can probably explain it but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
“The track surface here has been really good, it doesn’t get raced on all year so I don’t know what’s going on but I guess it’s the same for everyone so I don’t really need to complain too much.
“They have got all year to maintain the circuit, I don’t know why they need to do it on (race week), but we’ll just do what we can do and control the things we can control and get on with it.”
Practice 3 for the Repco Supercars Championship begins at 10:10am AEDT this morning, as the field starts preparations for all-in qualifying this afternoon.
