The new concrete surface is expected to be more consistent and predictable than the tarmac which should allow teams to be able dial-in their vehicles quicker/easier/better once they’ve got used to the new surface, and also, I believe, it gives a degree of alignment with the surfaces of most of the N American tracks.
The link to the write up gives a good overview of the work entailed (which included the spectator banking), and the time-lapse video of the work shows how much time and effort went in to keeping Drag Racing alive and kicking in the UK.
Visually it certainly looks the biz.
Such a shame that the Easter event was relatively cold and had so much rain.
http://www.dragracingeurope.eu/fiaedc/2018/03/20/santa-pod-raceway-completes-the-new-concrete-track/youtube footage of the Easter meeting from the Santa Pod feed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0FcXFCYCJEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XcnXa-mWwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEdjPLYFN5khttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xura6sovJ8