SUPERCARS will head into the Repco Bathurst 1000 without a full-blown competitive run of its new Safety Car procedure, but at least with some lessons garnered from The Bend.

Supercars reacted swiftly amid backlash to the Safety Car-affected Sunday race at last month’s Ipswich Super440 to update rules in a bid to achieve the best of both worlds – ensuring safety without cornering competitors into identical SC-orientated strategies.

The system got a mock-up trial on each day of the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, during Practice 3 on Friday, Practice 4 on Saturday and warm-up yesterday.

There was a notable mishap in the Practice 4 simulation when Jamie Whincup ploughed into the back of Triple Eight teammate Scott Pye after misjudging the start of a ‘slow zone’.

Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle had already by that point flagged radio reliance as a point of vulnerability, and updated dashboard configurations trialled on Sunday to aid the flow of information to drivers proved hit-and-miss.

All told, the Safety Car never was required during the 102-lap race, something which Supercars chief motorsport officer Tim Edwards admits would have been ideal merely from a standpoint of gaining insights for Bathurst.

“It would have been nice, yes,” Edwards told V8 Sleuth at the close of play on Sunday.

“We tested it three times over the weekend and we refined it based on feedback from all of them.

“Obviously we could only do a quick test this morning because we made a change to the lights, the Christmas tree for the drivers, to give them advanced warning that they were approaching a slow zone.

“So they sort of got a bit of a practice with that this morning, albeit very brief because we just did it on their out lap.”

Five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander, who placed third in The Bend 500 alongside Matt Payne, was philosophical about the lack of opportunity to get a look at the procedure in anger.

“The Safety Car likelihood here at The Bend is incredibly low,” he said.

“I’m glad that they did the test this morning in the warm-up because there was quite a few glitches that needed work, so at least they’ve got that information going forward.

“They always said this weekend was going to be a trial for this new system.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get to use it live but that’s the nature of racing…it hasn’t happened for a long time (that a ‘500’ has gone Safety Car-free).

“But I don’t think it’s a shame there wasn’t a Safety Car, other than for the sponsors who sponsor the Safety Car.”