SUPERCARS will introduce a different wheel nut at Albert Park as teams brace for the pressure of executing rapid-fire tyre changes.
Unlike the Newcastle 500 where refuelling afforded crews margin for error on tyre changes, the next four rounds will all be run to a sprint format.
Getting wheels on and off cars has been problematic in Gen3 and several teams still encountered some level of difficulty at the season-opener.
That’s led to a new, confidence-inspiring solution.
MORE: Tickford rookie’s ‘invaluable’ Albert Park trial
“We went a certain direction with what we thought would work and we’ve got 80 percent of the way there and now there has been basically a proven thread from another brand of wheel nut used on a GT car,” Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan told V8 Sleuth.
“It’s proven it works, it’s a known quantity so now it is going to be put into the wheel nuts and tested at Albert Park… the fact it has been copied from something that is proven is a positive.”
Ryan is mindful that the new nut still needs to be proven in a Supercars environment but is optimistic.
It’s understood that old-spec nuts will be used during practice and qualifying at Albert Park with the new variation coming into play for races.
“That’s probably the most efficient way to do it – you may as well use up your old stock where you’re not doing a pitstop,” noted Ryan.
“We have all bought way too many wheel nuts already so it would be nice to nail something that is actually going to work properly.
“The positive is, all of the teams have been working together to try to find a solution.
“I think the wheel clip is 100 percent sorted now, there’s no questions on the wheel clip, it’s just getting the thread right so you can do these fast pitstops.”
There will be four Supercars races, one on each day (March 30 to April 2), at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
PODCAST: Your Gen3 questions answered
