THE influx of accomplished European engineers signing with Supercars teams interestingly comes at a time when the category has less engineering freedoms than ever.
Gen3 regulations were a move towards more controlled componentry and less of a development arms race, which the likes of Ludo Lacroix have made no secret of lamenting.
And yet, Riccardo Corte (Italian, Formula 1), Rafal Lewandowski (Polish, World Endurance Championship) and Alexander Lieschke (German, Formula E) have all been announced for Supercars roles in the past nine months.
Corte is Kai Allen’s engineer at Grove Racing, where Lieschke will start in October as head of simulation and performance engineering. Lewandowski meanwhile is making waves as a performance engineer at Tickford Racing.
So, what’s behind the growing trend?
“Supercars is very big overseas,” Stephen Grove explained to V8 Sleuth.
“Any of the GT racing we’ve done overseas, which is a lot over the journey, everyone always asks me about it.
“So they can come and learn another car.”
As for the attraction in lieu of being able to actually out-design rivals?
“There’s always two sorts of engineers,” said the Grove Racing executive chairman.
“There’s the engineers that make the components and there’s the engineers that analyse data and work out how to go faster. We’re trying to get people that have that experience.
“If you look at, say, Formula E, their testing is unbelievably limited and they have got to rock up like we do on the weekend and be quick straight out.
“So you’re looking for people that have that overall experience, and to get them to come here – they see our vision.”
