Track surface a real gripper

THE Gold Coast 600’s new “super-bitumen” is set to deliver a greater race spectacle but perhaps not lap record times according to Supercars driver Nick Percat.

As Holden’s Ash Walsh became the first Supercars driver to slam into the wall during yesterday’s second practice session, drivers were coming to grips with the new surface installed after last year’s GC600.

Series leader Shane Van Gisbergen gave the new track surface an overwhelming thumbs up after the morning practice session yesterday, citing the extra grip he felt under braking into the front chicane.

Percat however reckons Bathurst champion Will Davison’s race lap record of 1min 10.0851sec – achieved in 2011 for Ford Performance Racing – will be well and truly out of reach.

“One year they turned the sensors off and we all basically shortcutted the turn one chicane during the race so the lap times here are crazy fast,” he said.

Percat however does expect the pace “will be extremely fast” to the point where David Reynolds’ 2013 qualifying lap record of 1:10.0480 may come under threat.

But if it’s crashes, shunts and hits you want to see there’s plenty of danger zones around the circuit to keep spectators on the edge of their seats.

After all, there has not been a single Supercars race on the Gold Coast for the past six years that has not had a safety car due to a crash somewhere.

The two chicanes, one at the end of pit straight and the other along the beach, are considered by drivers as the two biggest threats to keeping their cars from slamming into the concrete walls.

One error here, brake too late or lock it up, and your car becomes a 150km/h pinball.

Gold Coaster Tim Slade’s co-driver Walsh put his Brad Jones Racing Commodore into the tyre wall at the final turn during the co-driver session as the team battled to find frontrunning speed.

“I think Ash just locked a front brake fairly late in the stop and that’s one thing we struggle quite a bit with, the front locking, and it is quite exposed at this track,” Slade said.

“It’s easy to be caught out the way the car is at the moment.”

Picture: DAVID CLARK BEST VIEW #5 Ash Walsh spins out on the back chicane in the Porsche Carrera Cup yesterday. The northern hairpin (turn 14) is regarded as one of the most important sections of the track for fast times. It can make or break a good lap.