It’s hot. It’s dusty. The wind is blowing the cars around, making it hard to line up a clean piece of track or get past someone going slower.
And the Michelin slicks have a narrow window at peak performance after which they are ‘off’. The degradation profile of old-school slicks meant you could rescue them by backing out of fast lapping and letting the rubber recover. Not these days. So if your car setup or your driving style is hard on front or rear tyres, you need to hold them in reserve for one blast at quali speed.
Not forgetting the devil’s own chicane after that magnificent 830 metre main straight, or the this-way that-way corner complex in the infield area.
The forecast might be saying there will be cooler weather at the weekend, but the TRS teams have to live in the ‘now’ and right now they face another day of 30 degree air temperatures.
Taupo’s customary winds will blow fine volcanic ‘flour’ across the circuit, mostly in the braking zones.
And qualifying will be held just as temperatures peak and begin to decline.
Last weekend at Hampton Downs track temperatures were up in the mid 40s. Air temp peaked around 32-33 degrees. According to more than one driver the cockpit of an FT50 is a ‘very sweaty’ place to be when conditions are like this.
Yesterday at Taupo in similar conditions Marcus Armstrong went quickest in the first session – 1:25.726 with Lucas Auer on 1:25.918 and Liam Lawson 1:26.4. In the second session, temperatures were peaking. Marcus went back out, banged down a faster (fastest) lap of 1:25.334 then returned to pit lane. Team owner Mark Pilcher said there was little point using up tyres trying to match or better that lap time.
The weekend turns serious this afternoon with qualifying 1. Tune in to the live timing and watch who’s going fast and who’s saving their tyres for one shot at glory.
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