The 2010/2011 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series will introduce an exciting new race format for selected events that will include longer races and inverted grids that will see the top qualifiers forced to charge from near the back of the field in the heat races. The new format will be implemented during the Tr-City Series staged over three consecutive nights at Mount Gambier, Avalon and Warrnambool.

Each night will open with a Happy Hour qualifying session in which all competitors will take to the track for several runs against the clock. The times recorded during this 60 minute qualifying session will prove critical as the night unfolds, so there will be action aplenty as competitors chase the quickest lap time.

At the completion of qualifying, drivers will be seeded into three 15-lap heat races, with the top 8 qualifiers inverted in each heat. The driver recording the fastest time in Happy Hour will start from position 8 in the opening heat, the driver clocking the second quickest time in qualifying will start position 8 in heat two, the third quickest time starts position 8 in heat three, with the fourth fastest qualifier starting position 7 in heat one and so on until the first four rows of each heat are filled. The remaining grid positions in each heat will be filled by those drivers who qualified outside the top 24 in accordance with their qualifying time.

Only the first five placegetters in each heat will qualify directly into the feature race, with the starting positions to be determined by qualifying times. Therefore, the driver amongst the 15 direct qualifiers with the fastest qualifying time will secure provisional pole position. The top six qualifiers will contest a 6-lap Dash from which the finishing order will determine the starting grid for the first three rows of the feature.

A Last Chance qualification race (B Main) will comprise drivers who failed to transfer directly from their heat race, with qualifying times to determine the starting order. The first four placegetters will transfer to the feature race, which will be run over 40 laps.

This format has been developed specifically for the three Tri-City events and all other rounds of the 2010/2011 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series will utilise the existing format that comprises three rounds of heats, B Main and feature race. Series organisers are confident that the Tri-City format will add an extra dimension to the Carline Championship and will enable greater interactivity between drivers, teams and race fans, particularly during Happy Hour qualifying. Furthermore, the longer races will place more emphasis on set-up and should produce some terrific racing as the top guns surge through the field to secure a place in the feature race field.