Starting this thread as I wanted to inform you guys of a little “hidden” experiment that take place each year in Valencia, Spain, at the end of the season, so that we can discuss the matter.
Not well advertised, but LeCont holds an annual race on the Lucas Guerrero circuit at the begining of December dubbed the “LeCont Trophy”. Given the fact that this is in December and most people have run out of budget by then, it is ussualy attended by locals with a mix of factory drivers that ussualy test things for the year to come.
The categories proposed in the 2024 editions were Mini, Junior (X30), Senior (OKN), KZ and DD2.
What i would like to focus on is the peculiar qualifying procedure that only affects the KZ class, of which the results are quite shocking.
The KZ field is the only one subject to the concept of the “SuperPole”, in which the top 5 drivers have access to following the end of the standard qualifying session. These 5 drivers are each given a new set of tires for a final shoothout to establish pole (akin to a Q3 in F1, or the actual SuperPole in WEC)
What is of note is the delta in laptime between the standard qualy and the super pole, which is a staggering 8 tenths of a second, done by the same driver.
This not only completely obliterates the track record (first time under the 52 seconds mark), it is 1.3 seconds faster than the poletime set during the 2024 Spanish Championship round at the same track by Joge Pescador (not exactly a slouch) on Vega XM4 tires.
Clearly, this delta in performance is a result of fielding a non-homologated tire compound solely for the SuperPole purpose, which is a few steps ahead of what is comercially availble. Of course, there is no cue on the longevity of said compound… Nonetelhess, It brings us back to the 80s and 90s, amidst the tire wars between manufacturers and the special tires availble only to some.
This little experiment also gives us a peak at what companies may actually have in their pocket for the future, which is quite exciting.
Let me know of your thoughts 