The Penrite Preview Townsville 500

The Penrite Preview – Townsville 500

Watch here – Reynolds and Holdsworth chat in Townsville about the weekend ahead.

Penrite Racing has ventured out of the cold climate of Melbourne and up into the sunshine of North Queensland for the Townsville 500.

Here’s how the weekend will play out.

The Circuit: The Reid Park circuit in Townsville is 2.860km in length. It is made up of a mixture of everyday streets and half parklands permanent circuit.

This bumpy layout is a big test for tyre life and offers multiple passing opportunities in its short layout. 

The Weather: Yep, you guessed it – sunny. Tops of 23 each day, I guess that’s why they call Queensland the sunshine state. 

Format: 2 x 250km races will be contested across the weekend with a Top Ten Shootout on both days. Today (Friday) we have two practice sessions.

Tyre options: The Hard and Super Soft compound tyres will be available, so expect a lot of strategy variations in the races. The Super Soft compound can only be used in the races where both must be used.

Pit stops: Refuelling is back for this format to go with the tyre stops. 

Lap Record: Scott McLaughlin 1:11:9908s in 2017 

Race times: Saturday @ 2.45pm AEST and Sunday @ 2.45pm AEST

Cauchi says: “Townsville is a  real challenge for engineers because it’s one of the bumpiest and highest tyre degradation circuits that we race on.”

“I’ve been lucky to win up there before and with a good car you can win the race by 30 seconds, and with a bad car you can be the complete opposite. 

“The two 250km races bring back the refuelling element to pit stops, and the added complexity of dual compound tyres to make it one of the most challenging weekends strategically on the calendar.”

The drivers say

Reynolds: “I love getting up into the sunshine in Townsville, it’s a cool track and I enjoy the challenges it presents. I’ve been on Pole position twice here so hoping to bring our qualifying form here and then convert it to a podium in the races.”

Holdsworth: “This track creates great racing and is tricky to set the car up for because of all the different surfaces and different types of corners. It’s nice to have Cauchi’s help this weekend, he’s a championship winning engineer so I’m interested to see what I can learn from him. I got my first ever pole position here in 2009 and really enjoy racing here.”

Where to watch it: Every Session of the weekend will be Live on Foxtel and Kayo, with Live and Free coverage of both races on Channel 7 on the weekend.