It is that time of year once again when the V8 Supercars roll into the New South Wales country town of Bathurst, located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales.
It’s a 203 kilometre drive of some two hours and 42 minutes west of Sydney to a town synonymous with motorsport for the V8s to drive and race at one of the world’s most iconic racetracks, Mount Panorama.
It is all part of a massive weekend in motorsport across the world on both four wheels and two.
Formula One takes over another iconic circuit in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, and MotoGP hits the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Most Australian motorsport will direct most of their attention to Bathurst, and the close, fierce battle that is expected across the weekend – especially with the battle for the championship heating up.
Four-time ATCC/V8 Supercars and Bathurst 1000 champion Jamie Whincup is leading the championship by 96 points over his teammate, three-time ATCC/V8 Supercars Champion and five-time Bathurst 1000 champion Craig Lowndes.
One-time Bathurst champion Will Davison is in third, followed by his Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom in fourth, with one-time ATCC/V8 Supercar Champion James Courtney and Brad Jones Racing driver Fabian Coulthard the only other drivers realistically in contention for the 2013 championship.
In terms of the circuit, Mount Panorama is 6.213km with 23 turns, the average track distance between each turn being 0.270km.
This ranks seventh on the V8 Supercars calendar (including Albert Park and Sydney Motorsport Park), and it is currently the fastest track on the V8 Supercars circuit.
If the track conditions are right, there is also a distinct possibility that the V8 Supercars lap records of Craig Lowndes (Practice: 2:06.8012) and Greg Murphy (Top 10 Shootout: 2:06.859) may well be broken, and possibly by a large margin.
In terms of what is required from the car, you need a fine balance between having a minimum downforce configuration for the big, long straights in Sector 1 and Sector 3, and a maximum downforce configuration for the numerous twists and turns in Sector 2.
So you need great aerodynamic efficiency, and having a very good set-up that suits your car is vital.
You also need good braking, good tyre life, and good fuel consumption. In general, you generally want a good handling and well balanced car.
If you don’t have this, Mount Panorama is one of the few circuits in the world where the driver can have a great influence over the performance of the car,meaning you can regain some of this deficit or extend your margin over your competitors.
My prediction for the weekend is for the lap record to be broken by quite a margin, if the track condition is right. I am predicting a lap time of around a 2:06.3247, probably in the Friday qualifying session.
I also think that in this qualifying session that all 28 regular cars in the championship will qualify within a second of each, which would be the closest qualifying session in the history of Bathurst – and in V8 Supercars, relative to the circuit length.
I’m tipping Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell to win the race on Sunday, both of them to be one step closer to the inaugural Pirtek Enduro Cup, and for Whincup to be one step closer to his fifth ATCC/V8 Supercars Championship.
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