Australian Supercars, Calder Park, 2023

“Bathurst is on my bucket list” says Gasly after Australian Supercars test

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In the round-up: Castrol puts Alpine’s F1 drivers in a Gen3 Supercar ahead of the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

In brief

Alpine drivers try Australian Supercar

Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Jack Doohan’s promotional duties for Alpine ahead of this weekend’s grand prix included trying out a car from Australia’s popular Supercars series on Calder Park Raceway’s oval.

The trio, plus Extreme E champion Molly Taylor, sampled a Ford Mustang GT built to the series’ latest ‘Gen3’ technical regulations. The car produces over 600 horsepower from a 5.4-litre V8 engine. Due to rain, they tested on wet compound tyres.

“That was insane,” said Gasly after his run. “It was actually my first time driving on an oval, it was incredible.”

On the prospect of racing in Supercars, he added “Bathurst is definitely on my bucket list, I definitely want to participate one day there. Ocon said he frequently drives the iconic Mount Panorama circuit on Alpine’s simulator.

DRS adjustment for Melbourne

The FIA has revealed the location of the four DRS zones for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Last year three DRS zones were used, although a fourth was initially incorporated into the track design but removed after practice. The detection point for the fourth zone was 45 metres after turn six, and the activation point was 140m after Panel 11, which was located trackside just after the right-hand kink between turn eight and nine.

That DRS zone has been reinstated for 2023, with the detection point brought five metres closer to turn six than in last year’s plan and with the activation point being 10 metres earlier. The second DRS zone, which starts after turn 10, will use the same detection point as the first one in the lap.

Another change has been made at the pit exit. This now ends at the second safety car line, having previously extended beyond it, and been reduced in width by four metres.

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Comment of the day

Bobby Epstein, chairman of United States Grand Prix venue Circuit of the Americas, has recently spoken about how his track fares against others in North America that are hosting Formula 1. He made the point that the fact COTA was built for racing puts it at an advantage against the new temporary Miami and Las Vegas circuits.

COTA’s F1 contract runs to 2026, while Miami’s extends to 2031. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is currently contracted to appear on the F1 calendar for three seasons, but is widely anticipated to remain part of F1 beyond 2025 given the world championship is promoting the race itself.

Personally I like COTA. Visually it’s lacking, a bit too Paul Ricard-like with the painted run-off, but I like the uphill drag at the start, the twisty section on top when it’s gusty, then some good overtaking corners and sequences.

Somehow reading ‘it was built for racing’ makes me think Liberty/FIA hear that and think: “hummm, better ditch that circuit then, clearly we can’t be maximising our profits if it was just built for racing.” I’m being serious.
David BR

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Lee!

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Author information

Ida Wood
Often found in junior single-seater paddocks around Europe doing journalism and television commentary, or dabbling in teaching photography back in the UK. Currently based...

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7 comments on ““Bathurst is on my bucket list” says Gasly after Australian Supercars test”

  1. Pierre just don’t go upside down rolling along the Armco and you’ll be fine. Enjoy Bathurst.
    P.S. Bill Brown Bathurst crash is the perfect example of what not to do!

    1. You must be as old as me Dave :)

      1. Probably and it’s been a “death defying” journey
        BUT I’m still here! as are you and that’s a good thing. 👍

    2. If you’re going to crash at Bathurst I recommend doing it like Jim Richards.
      Just keep some memorable invective ready for the crowd.

  2. Steady on Pierre. You need to walk before you can run mate. The Calder Oval is one thing, Mt Panorama is an entirely different animal :)
    I hope it’s dry for your debut.

  3. So marginally different starting points for one detection & activation point, but I can only hope the reinstatement won’t make things unnecessarily risky, given the T9-10 combination’s high-speed nature since DRS & fast corners never mix well, as Abbey proved in 2018.
    One thing I don’t get is why that zone is numbered first despite technically being second, as the activation zone on T2-3 straight is the first that starts after the timing line & FIA’s general approach is to number them from the closest post-timing line activation point, so an S/F straight zone wherever one begins further into that straight than the timing line & the next zone in order if earlier. A similar exception from the norm occurs in Mexico.

    I’ve always liked COTA, but don’t necessarily think the circuit would get ditched based on the built-for-racing aspect, although possible someday considering the general temporary circuit push.

    1. Seriously dude, do you reply to every article on here? Where do you find the time?! I know, ironic that I have found the time to write this…

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