Well, holy smokes, it’s enduro time! Sandown is just days away and this year’s season of endurance is shaping up to be a good ‘un.
Between board meetings, strategy chat and other general bossman things, we tracked down Roland Dane to get his thoughts and tips on the upcoming endurance events.
Five things to watch this endurance season
- Watch out for Matty Campbell. He’s coming here off the back of a dominant win in the Porsche Supercup at Monza, so he should be full of confidence. He’s also not new to a supercar, having run in the enduros last year. If I didn’t think he could do the job he wouldn’t be here.
READ MORE: Catch up with Campbell after his second ever hit-out in the RBHRT Commodore
- Bathurst sees a reversion to the old specification tyre after this year’s “soft” tyre (the same compound as last year’s hard tyre but with a different profile) proved not able to withstand the abrasive track surface at Phillip Island. It won’t really carry any advantages or disadvantages for anyone. It should hopefully just ensure that the tyres don’t become the focus of the weekend, and drivers can press on hard.
- While Jamie and PD should, on paper, be the strongest pairing out there, there are a few dark horses to watch. If the car is strong and we all make no mistakes then they’ll be in the mix. Matt can be, but I think people already have high expectations of him, as they justifiably do with Richie Stanaway. If Garth Tander can mentor James Golding properly, then they can be very effective.
READ MORE: Whincup believes “next three races will tell the story”
- We’re embracing the heritage theme at the Sandown 500 again, this year making our second ever mid-season livery change since partnering with Red Bull in 2013. Hopefully the fans take the liveries in the way they’re intended. They are retro inspired liveries, rather than full retro as clearly Red Bull wasn’t sponsoring the cars back in the 1980s. Peter Hughes at Holden has done a great job with creating something different for this event in my opinion.
- There’s one thing above all that we’ll be keeping an eye on. The weather! Rain, hail, heat, etc. can all have an effect on the outcomes. As everyone knows, prepare for four seasons in one day at Sandown and Bathurst.
