Supercars has activated a contingency plan to address a delay in the supply of new brake pads following a series of failures at the previous race. The incidents at the Ipswich Super440 and subsequent enduro test day forced organizers to take swift action to ensure safety and fair competition at The Bend.
Two new batches of brake pads were sent via air freight from Italy, where they are manufactured by control supplier Ferodo. One batch arrived at The Bend on Thursday, while the other was delayed at London's Heathrow Airport. Supercars remains hopeful those pads will be available in time for bedding in during Sunday's morning warm-up.
On Friday, teams participated in a dedicated brake bedding session to test the new batch and samples from the troublesome '499' batch that caused issues at Ipswich. While the new batch received a cautious thumbs up, continued disintegration of the 499s led Supercars to pull them from service. Instead, Supercars pledged to ensure each team a second set of new pads by distributing a mix from older batches that had been brought to the circuit.
Two sets of new pads is the planned allowance for The Bend, with other pre-marked pads also allowed to be used throughout practice. Supercars notified teams on Friday afternoon, while also reassuring them that two further sea freight shipments of new pads are on their way for the Bathurst 1000.
Teams canvassed by Speedcafe praised Supercars' efforts to resolve the issue. "It's not ideal but I feel like we're going to be okay," Brad Jones told Speedcafe. "I think everyone has got enough in terms of pads and options. I can only speak for my own team, but we will be okay (regardless of whether the next batch turns up)."
Teams somewhat reluctantly ran the troublesome 499s during the brake bedding session, where drivers described those pads as feeling "like a sponge". "It sounds like everyone had the same comments after the brake bedding session," said Team 18 driver Anton De Pasquale at the end of practice. "I would imagine everyone just ran on some old pre-marked pads today (in practice), the best of what you've got. I believe there are some more on the way, so we should all be good by Sunday."
Whether the delayed freight does arrive before Sunday's warm-up may determine whether teams elect to change pads during Sunday's race. This logistical challenge could influence pit stop strategies and weekend performance.
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