Mandatory pit stops for Enduro Cup to improve parity

The V8 Supercars board has decided to stipulate a minimum number of mandatory pit stops for the three Pirtek Enduro Cup races at Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Goald Coast 600 in order to improve parity.

The next race at Sandown will see a minimum of four pit stops for all cars, this in order to decrease the difference in fuel consumption between the cars.

“The Commission believes this is the appropriate method to minimise the effect of the current fuel economy variance that exists ahead of these three critical endurance events,” said Damien White, V8 Supercars General Manager of Motorsport.

There has been controversy surrounding the fuel consumption between the four-valve engine of Nissan and Mercedes compared to the two-valve pushrod engines of Holden and Ford. Nissan and Mercedes were allowed to run on E70 at Winton, a fuel mixture of 70 percent ethanol and 30 percent unleaded fuel, compared to the regular E85 mixture. This was changed back to having all cars again running only on E85 after the first race at Winton.

“It was determined that while there was no material gain in power or performance using the lower blend of ethanol fuel, a more effective approach was to ensure everyone was racing on the same basis by mandating the number of pit stops,” said White.

The change to a minimum of four pitstops at Sandown is expected to level the differences between the cars, while the Nissan and Mercedes cars still are expected to require more fuel in the pit stops.

The Sandown 500 race is held this weekend on September 15th.