SUPERCARS star Shane van Gisbergen has given his tick of approval to the largely resurfaced Adelaide 500 circuit.
More than 70 percent of the 3.22km track – everywhere other than from the apex of Turn 7 to before the Turn 9 braking zone – has fresh asphalt.
That could see record times tumble across the December 1-4 event.
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Van Gisbergen himself is the recordholder for a Supercars qualifying lap at Adelaide Parklands courtesy of his 1:19.2951s set in 2017.
Chaz Mostert has the race lap record, a 1:20.3792s from 2019.
We have had some past experiences at this track but it will be completely different now, there are no bumps and hopefully more grip,” van Gisbergen said in Adelaide today, four days on from winning the Repco Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander.
“It is a completely new surface, it looks beautiful and we can’t wait to race here in a couple of months’ time.”
Adelaide will begin its long-term role as the Supercars season-closer this year, having traditionally been a fixture at the other end of the calendar.
“It will be a different feeling being the Championship finale, the drivers will be more race fit, but the biggest thing for us is seeing the enthusiasm in town already, seeing how much the people of Adelaide have missed the race and how excited they are for it to return,” said van Gisbergen.
“This was one of my favourite races of the year and to be back here again is going to be great.
“We haven’t done many street circuits in recent years and we can come race here again with the people and see so many fans around on the street.”
Only four active full-timers have tasted victory on the streets of Adelaide: van Gisbergen (five), James Courtney (three), Will Davison and Nick Percat (one apiece).
Before then, the Gold Coast will host the penultimate round of the Repco Supercars Championship on October 28-30.
