Format locked in for S5000 Tasman Series

The V8-powered open-wheeler series is set to stage a short, sharp Tasman campaign across two events at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama in the coming weeks.

The seven-race series within a series will see drivers compete for a $50,000 prize pool.

Organisers today confirmed how the Tasman events will play out, with a points weighting placing additional importance on the two finales.

For the opener in Sydney (November 19-21), the grid for Race 1 will be determined by qualifying, while the grid for Race 2 will see the top 75 per cent from qualifying reversed.

The Race 3 grid will be determined based on points accumulated from the opening two races.

For the four Bathurst races a similar system to Sydney will be in place for the Race 1 and 2 grids.

The grid for Race 3 will then reverse the top 50 per cent from the Race 3 result before points once again set the grid for the finale.

At both events the first race will be worth 20 points while any race with part of the grid reversed will be worth 20 points.

The 'feature' races will each be worth 60 points.

“The sporting regulations for the S5000 Tasman Series are based very closely on the successful formats we had in place for the Gold Star championship earlier this year,” said S5000 category administrator Liam Curkpatrick.

“The only major change is the addition of an additional race to the programme at Bathurst, Race 6, where we will reverse the top half of the grid from Race 5.

“The races where we reversed the top portion of the field were among the best of the season this year, so we wanted to ensure that continued, but we have also tried to minimize the impac t on the Tasman Series standings by ensuring those races have less points on offer.

“The big-ticket races are the first of each weekend and then the final race at each round.

“We think the format is the best mixture of offering pure competition, giving competitive cars a chance to run at the front even if they don’t qualify there and offering plenty of entertainment for the many fans who will be watching.

“With the varied race formats, the driver who lifts the Tasman Cup will have absolutely earned it over two important qualifying sessions and seven races.”