Good on you Tomas, someone finally states what we all know....
Drivers were warned
Author: Briar Gunther | Source: BigPond Sport - Copyright
V8 Supercars Driving Standards Observer Tomas Mezera said drivers were warned they would need to use their thinking caps a bit more with the introduction of the soft option tyre.
His comments come after Toll Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander slammed the driving standards in the first race at Winton yesterday (Saturday) after he was spun twice.
Mezera said drivers were briefed and they knew they needed to be a little more cautious and aware.
?We mentioned the fact, they all knew what's going on and we mentioned there would be some speed differentials, especially in this place (Winton), and the difference was about two seconds,? he said.
?All of it is done on mid-corner speeds and the braking. It just allows for overtaking. (But) you don't need to remind them.?
But Mezera said Tander - who also made contact with Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom during the race - pretty much got as good as he gave.
?He is good enough to serve it up as well, but he keeps those ones quiet, but when he gets it he's not that happy about it,? Mezera said.
And Garry Rogers Motorsport's Lee Holdsworth - who was one of the drivers to hit Tander - was not penalised because it was beyond his control.
Holdsworth's Commodore had a punctured tyre from sharp metal off Tander's damaged car, Mezera said.
?You can't hold it against Holdsworth, it's just one of those things. He's got a puncture, well of course he can't turn. You can't punish him, it's just common sense.?
Mezera said the new soft option tyre achieved its exact purpose of providing more exciting racing.
?If you look at (race one), where Lowndes came up from fourth to win the race and passing three cars on the last sort of eight laps or whatever it was, that is exactly what the public wants to see I think,? he said.
?That's what the change was designed to do and I think it worked.
?I thought it was pretty good, there was plenty of action happening there.?
Mezera said the tyres made his job a bit harder.
?Because you had some cars on the control tyre, some cars on the softer tyre and for mid-corner speeds they were a little bit faster than the cars on the harder tyres,? he explained.
?And there were a few incidents that happened and you had to take that into account; not to get too excited putting drive-throughs on those people.?
