BATHURST 1000
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OVER the past eight years they have had the sort of strike rate at Mount Panorama to make their rivals jealous, yet Triple Eight team owner Roland Dane is not entirely happy.
Last Sunday Triple Eight cars filled two of the three podium positions in the Bathurst 1000 – Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell finishing second with Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff third.
It means that since 2006 the team has earned five wins and picked up another five podium finishes – three second placings and a pair of thirds.
But for the 2013 edition, Dane claims Triple Eight had to work extra hard given the Bathurst 1000’s mandatory seven pit stop minimum.
Dane believes the shorter stints delivered by the new-for-2014 rule worked against the team because there was not enough running on old tyres.
“One of the downsides of the shorter stints is you don’t really get to see how the cars perform over a long period of time on their tyres and the drivers when the tyres start to go away,” Dane told v8supercars.com.au.
“You and I could drive quite well on good tyres, but it’s when the tyres go off a bit the men show up from the boys.
“So I think that is the downside of the stints being too short. But from a spectator point of view, it was outstanding and a great spectacle to watch.”
Dane also questioned the basic contention behind the rule’s introduction; that the new Nissans and Mercedes-Benz multi-valve V8s needed assistance because of higher fuel consumption than the long established Ford and Holden push-rods.
The best placed Mercedes was the Lee Holdsworth and Craig Baird entry in 14th place while James Moffat and Taz Douglas were the best of the Nissan pairings in 18th.
“I don’t know what their fuel consumption is because frankly we had worse fuel consumption at Sandown than the Nissan,” Dane said.
“I have seen the figures ... the stats are there, any idiot can work out we had the same fuel economy as the best of the Mercedes.
“People tune their engines to different performance levels. People often sacrifice grunt for economy, that’s been going on for years and years in this sport.”
Somewhat ironically given Dane’s preference for longer stints, the Whincup Holden Commodore actually pitted eight times in the race, risking the optional stop during the second safety car period because the car’s sizeable lead would minimise the risk and give it a refuelling time advantage late in the race.
However, Dumbrell’s two run-offs late in his otherwise excellent stint negated that advantage and Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom was able to emerge in front of Whincup for the final dash to the chequered flag.
Dane, an intensely competitive individual who is the cornerstone of Triple Eight’s emergence as the dominant V8 Supercars team, described the two-three result as a “bit like a beer that was opened a couple of hours ago and left in the warm.”