Oran Park track talk with Dunlops Kevin Fitzsimons

Kevin Fitzsimons, Dunlops V8 Operations Manager, said that all teams will be looking to prove themselves and finish off the Championship, the last V8 race scheduled at Oran Park.

“The last race of the Championship is always eventful as all teams struggle to finish off the season well,” Mr Fitzsimons said.

“Jamie Whincup’s lead of 233 points over Ford Performance Racing’s (FPR) Mark Winterbottom, and the fact that he has won the last four rounds of the Championship, will give him great confidence at Oran Park.

 “Oran Park’s 2.62km circuit provides an even spread of wear across the rear of the car as it contains quite a variety of left and right hand corners.

“However, it is definitely a circuit which is susceptible to a lot of flat spotting of tyres, especially the front left tyre as drivers come through the kink and into turn one.

“Due to the track being quite bumpy in parts it is pretty hard on tyres and drivers really need to be on top of their game when it comes to looking after their tyres as getting the power down coming out of the final turn is vital, especially later in the weekend when their tyres are far from brand new,” he said.

FPR driver Steve Richards will re-badge his number 6 Castrol FPR Falcon and race as the 120 car to celebrate sponsorship partner Dunlop’s 120th anniversary.

Dunlop’s 120 celebrations began at this year’s Bathurst 1000, 36 years after changing Australian motorsport by introducing slick tyres that helped Peter Brock win his first of nine Bathurst titles.

This legendary motorsport moment is one of many for the racing icon, which starting in 1888 when a Scottish-born veterinary surgeon, John Boyd Dunlop, invented the pneumatic bicycle tyre.