2023 Supercars Melbourne SuperSprint session times and preview

The Aussie series will contest a total of four sprint races on the Albert Park circuit across the Australian Grand Prix weekend with racing on all four days.

For the first time the category will race on the Thursday while qualifying is split between the Thursday and Saturday.

Following two half-hour practice sessions to kickstart Thursday, the grid for Races 1 and 2 will be set by seperate 15-minute qualifying sessions on Thursday afternoon.

The opening 19-lap race will then take place on Thursday evening.

On Friday there is just a single Supercars session – the second race at 2:55pm local time.

Qualifying then continues on Saturday morning with another two 15-minutes sessions before Race 3 on Saturday evening and Race 4 on Sunday morning.

This is the only mixed tyre compound for the season with running to be split between the super soft and hard compound rubber.

For qualifying, the hard Dunlop is mandated for the first two sessions and the super soft for the second two.

In each of the four races drivers will be required to use both compounds with a compulsory stop for tyres only.

That means this will be the first time teams have completed tyre-only stops with the new Gen3 cars.

Wheels nuts and wheel fitting have been an issue so far with some teams set to run a revised nut and retaining clip system at Albert Park this weekend.

Teams have mostly machined their rims to have more tolerance to the drive pegs on the hubs as well to alleviate issues with fitting cold rims to the car during a 'hot' stop.

The speed of the tyre-only stops, without the coverage of fuel, will provide a proper test to the solutions.

The fast, flowing layout will also provide a very different test to the cars themselves following their debut on the tight confines of the Newcastle street circuit.

Two issues will be particularly under the microscope this weekend – parity and raceability.

Pre-seasons concerns over parity were largely put to bed in Newcastle with little noticeable performance difference between the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang.

However Albert Park could better highlight any aero or power deficiencies should they exist.

Raceability, meanwhile, didn't seem all that much better in Newcastle compared to the Gen2 cars – however that too could have been circuit specific.

It will therefore be fascinating to see how the tyres react to the more open Albert Park layout and whether drivers will be able to follow and pass.

The newness of the Gen3 hardware makes the form hard to pick heading to Albert Park, although there were ominous signs from the Triple Eight camp in Newcastle.

Shane van Gisbergen crossed the line first in both races, although was later stripped of his Saturday win due to a driver cooling-related technical breach.

That means Chaz Mostert currently leads the series by 45 points over Brodie Kostecki, while van Gisbergen is 11th, 126 points back.

2023 Supercars Melbourne SuperSprint session times

All times local (Thursday-Saturday GMT+11, Sunday GMT+10)

Thursday March 30

10:30-11:00 Carrera Cup – Practice
11:25-11:55 Supercars – Practice 1
12:30-13:00 Carrera Cup – Qualifying
13:15-13:45 Supercars – Practice 2
14:45-15:00 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 1)
15:10-15:25 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 2)
16:45-17:25 Carrera Cup – Race 1
17:45-18:28 Supercars – Race 1

Friday March 31

8:50-9:35 Formula 3 – Practice
10:00-10:45 Formula 2 – Practice
12:30-13:30 Formula 1 – Practice 1
14:00-14:30 Formula 3 – Qualifying
14:55-15:28 Supercars – Race 2
16:00-17:00 Formula 1 – Practice 2
17:30-18:00 Formula 2 – Qualifying
18:25-19:00 Carrera Cup – Race 2

Saturday April 1

9:05-9:20 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 3)
9:30-9:45 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 4)
10:45-11:30 Formula 3 – Race 1
12:30-13:30 Formula 1 – Practice 3
14:20-15:10 Formula 2 – Race 1
16:00-17:00 Formula 1 – Qualifying
17:30-17:58 Supercars – Race 3
18:25-19:00 Carrera Cup – Race 3