V8 Supercars veteran Garth Tander believes organisers of this weekend’s Sydney 500 have made it easier for drivers by changing the format.

The season-ending round has traditionally run only two 250km races, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday.

But, for the first time, Saturday’s event has been split into two 125km sprints.

Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander and teammate James Courtney say they prefer the old format.

“What splitting the Saturday race up does is it means that when we’ve got fatigue on Saturday night it’s nowhere near as high as it would be if we had one 250km race,” Tander said.

“Therefore Sunday’s race is physically easier as well.

“A big part of our sport is not only being fast, but also handling the pressure and maintaining the concentration level for long periods of time, especially at places like this, a street circuit.

“So I think the degree of difficulty has gone down a little bit.”

But the 2007 champion praised V8 Supercars for “trying different things” over the years.

“If that’s what we need to do to maintain a fresh look of the sport, a fresh feel of the sport, at the end of the day it’s just another start,” he added.

A final practice session is scheduled for 9am, followed by two qualifying runs for the afternoon’s double-header.

Storms are forecast.