We’ve headed west, 3,448km’s west to Perth, Western Australia, for the 2019 SuperNight!
When the sun goes down, Supercars will get busy, with the second edition of the SuperNight this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
41 light towers and five floodlights are set to light up Barbagallo Raceway like never before.
Night racing throws a heap of new elements into the mix. Everything feels faster, there will be cabin lights and dash lights to deal with and track temperatures will be much cooler than during the day. Whilst navigating all of that, Scott and JC will still have to muscle a 650hp beast around the track against 23 other drivers.
At just 2.4kms in length, Barbagallo Raceway is a tight and tricky race track. The car has to be set up to flow through the twists and turns in the first half of the lap, but you also need a strong braking package to pull the car up into the last corner.
It’s important to note the whole circuit has been resurfaced, which means it will be a vastly different track to set the car up around.
In the past Barbagallo has had an extremely abrasive surface, which takes life out of the tyres quicker than anywhere else on the calendar.
Some are predicating lap times will be up to three seconds faster this year, but there’s only one way to find out, and that is practice 1, Thursday night under lights.
The format for this year has differs from Sydney last year, and the good news is, it’s more racing!
Supercars will run in prime time on both Friday and Saturday night, with the SuperSprint format of a 120km race and a 200km race to be adopted.
The three-part knockout qualifying system will also be back.
In addition to Fox Sports, Channel 10 will be broadcasting both races live, which start at 8:45pm EST on both nights, but make sure you tune in earlier for some spectacular driver introductions (trust us, theirs pyrotechnics!).
Scott Pye
“I love going to Perth, it’s a fast, physical track that is a lot of fun to drive. Throw in the under lights element, and it’s going to be a fantastic show!”
“The track resurfacing is going to make things really interesting. We don’t know what the degradation will be like, the track ambient will change from day to night, so there are a lot of variables to deal with.
“I hope the tyre degradation hasn’t gone away too much, because that was great for racing, but it’s going to be a totally different experience.”
James Courtney
“This will be a cool weekend; I can’t wait to get out there.
“The SuperNight event as a whole last year was awesome, and it looks like this one will be even better.
“The track itself is going to be very different to last year after the resurface so practice Thursday night will be really important.
“There will be a lot to get our heads around early, but it should be a lot of fun, and look great for everyone at the track and at home.”