New kerbs installed at Zandvoort chicane following concerns raised by Hankook

Overnight work was completed at Circuit Park Zandvoort last night to upgrade the kerbs at the chicane, after a request from DTM tyre partner Hankook.

The Dutch track features a new surface for this year, with yesterday’s pace-setter Augusto Farfus from BMW, lapping nearly three seconds below the official record set by Marco Wittmann three years ago.

The drivers, however, complained that the track was still very bumpy, struggling with balance at Turn 4 and the chicane. Mercedes’ Paul di Resta said: “It has been difficult to find a good set-up with the track being so bumpy.”

Farfus went further: “When you resurface a circuit and just put a new tarmac layer over the old one, you don’t get rid of the bumps. But, well, we get the same problem at Interlagos.”

Hankook’s chief engineer Thomas Baltes voiced a different concern last night after several drivers, including Audi’s Mattias Ekström, suffered punctures yesterday: “The tarmac is new, but they kept the old kerbs, never seen anything like that before. They are working on the chicane right now as this is a problem, as the tyres can burst if they cut through the old kerbs.”

The organisers revamped the kerbs overnight at the chicane, installing new rumble-strips to address the concerns raised after yesterday’s first free practice session.