Ahhhh, the Apple Isle. Our little oasis away from the mainland, where the weather is cool, but the Supercars racing is red hot!
Most of you reading this would be very familiar to the lamb shop…ahh, we mean Symmons Plains racetrack. It’s a track that’s served the Bulls well over the past couple of decades, so you’d think we’d be in good stead…yeah?
For Red Bull Ampol’s young gun, Broc ‘BFeen’ Feeney, there’s one minor hurdle standing in his way…he’s never been to Symmons Plains! So, how does a Supercars driver prepare for a racetrack that they’ve never been to?
“It’s a bit of a weird feeling racing at a track that I’ve never been to before,” BFeen said.
“In fact, I haven’t been to the next three tracks, so it’s definitely doing to be interesting. Going to Tassie knowing it’s a strong track for Triple Eight is always good to know that the cars perform well there. The team have had great success in the past, and hopefully I can learn it pretty quick.
“I’ve been doing as much simulator work and watching as many race replays as I can, trying to learn as much as I can before I get there. For me, the simulator is the closest thing to the real deal until I roll out for practice one on Saturday.
“The track itself looks quite simple; seven turns and just over two kilometres, but that makes every corner so critical – one little mistake is a massive time loss with the long straights as well. It’s super technical and something I’m going to have to learn over the practice session.”
Echoing BFeen’s critique of the Symmons Plain’s track, Shane ‘SVG’ van Gisbergen is hoping he leaves the Apple Isle with a good bag of points, before the return of the Melbourne 400.
“It’s a track that looks so easy on paper, but it’s definitely not. It’s a tough track to get right because everyone’s so close, and a lot of teams have made a lot of progress this year,” SVG said.
“We’ve done well there in the past, but that’s in the past – I don’t expect us to be outright fastest because there will be so many other quick guys on track. At the end of the day, it comes down to how well we’ve all prepared.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It’s a cool event, and the weather always varies which can make racing conditions tough, but I always love racing there. Hopefully over the three races we can come away with a good bank of points, which will put us in a good place heading into the Grand Prix.
On track action of the Tasmania SuperSprint begins Saturday 28 March, with three 100-kilometre races scheduled over the weekend.
