Championship leader Jamie Whincup says air conditioning for V8 Supercars must be again considered after their United States debut produced stifling heat which pushed drivers to the limit.
Holden’s Whincup won both races held at the Circuit of the Americas – with dry, mid-30s heat in Texas translating to temperatures above 50 degrees inside the car.
Ford driver Will Davison struggled in the first race with a cool-suit failure driving his temperature even higher, and was among many suffering heat stress after the race.
Whincup admitted it was one of the hottest races he had ever driven in.
Compounding the issue was just a one-hour break between the two races, allowing the body minimum time to readjust and rehydrate.
“It was probably top-five as far as cabin temp goes inside the car – we were absolutely spent after the first race and weren’t sure how we were going to back up in the second,” Whincup said.
“Without doubt we’re getting to the stage where we’re going to have to run air-con or change the system.
“It’s getting to the stage where they’ll just run an air-con pump in front of the engine – mandatory for everyone – and it will be much cooler.”
The idea of air-conditioning for cars was toyed with in the Car of the Future program introduced this year.
But the lack of a suitable system meant the idea was shelved and cool-suits retained.
Similar temperatures are forecast for the remaining two Texas races on Monday (AEST), with a similar one-hour break between races.