By Andrew Clarke
Date posted: 15 September 2026
Supercars has begun an expanded Centre of Gravity parity test in Melbourne, with 10 cars from Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota being evaluated just days after the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
The multi-day program is taking place at Dunlop Motorsport’s Melbourne facility and follows renewed pressure for the category to revisit CoG as part of its ongoing technical parity review.
Team 18 has been among those pushing for a reassessment, with team principal Adrian Burgess saying the data has made the problem clear.
“For us, it’s been pretty clear. We’ve had 15 races and continuous triggers, so we sat down with Supercars after QR and went through their multi-lap analysis. It clearly showed an area where we’re deficient relative to the Ford,” Burgess told Auto Action at The Bend.
“You talk to Anton and people like that, and Anton knows how to drive a racing car. He knows how to drive, and so does Dave. They’re looking at the other cars and describing the things they can do, and we just can’t do it.
“It’s not because we don’t have the talent or don’t have the car, we just can’t do it. It’s an area where we’re deficient.”
Burgess said Team 18 had subsequently tested a potential solution at Queensland Raceway with Supercars involved in the process.
“We tested that solution at QR with Supercars’ permission and direction. They were there with us, and then we agreed to the change Supercars put on the table. We all agreed it followed the process.”
It is believed three Ford Mustangs (#888 from Triple Eight, #26 Grove Racing and #6 Tickford Racing), three Toyota Supras (#2 Walkinshaw TWG Racing and #8 & #14 Brad Jones Racing) and four Chevrolet Camaros (#9 Erebus Motorsport, #31 PremiAir Racing and #20 & #15 Team 18).
The cars were sealed by Supercars officials following Sunday’s racing at The Bend so they could be assessed in effectively the same specification in which they competed. Any necessary repairs are being carried out under supervision.
The latest program is considerably broader than the CoG exercise carried out earlier this year.
Team 18 team principal Adrian Burgess says the parity issue has been identified and the next step is finding the fix, with Centre of Gravity forming part of that process. Image: Team 18
Supercars tested only three cars in February, using the Triple Eight Mustang, Walkinshaw TWG Supra and Team 18 Camaro that had competed at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
That test ultimately resulted in Chevrolet teams being ordered to relocate 4.4kg of ballast to the upper section of the roll cage.
Team 18 challenged the basis of that assessment almost immediately, arguing its Camaro had remained in a configuration prepared for previous wind-tunnel work while the Ford and Toyota were effectively race-ready cars.
The team subsequently pushed for CoG to be tested again, while Walkinshaw TWG also raised the issue as part of its parity submissions following the Ipswich Super440.
The expanded Melbourne test is designed to provide Supercars with a broader sample across multiple teams rather than relying on a single example of each model.
Centre of Gravity is measured by physically tipping the cars and establishing the point at which they begin to balance, with that information then used in a calculation to determine the CoG position.
Supercars first introduced CoG testing into its parity process following the arrival of the Gen2 Ford Mustang in 2019.
The Melbourne exercise follows a turbulent weekend at The Bend, where aerodynamic parity rather than Centre of Gravity became the immediate flashpoint between Supercars and the Ford teams.
The Camaro arrived at the event with a revised aerodynamic package, before Supercars made a further change on Saturday morning to remove some downforce from the Chevrolet.
Ford teams maintained the original change had been made outside the processes contained within the Teams Racing Charter and formally challenged Supercars over the decision.
Burgess was scathing about how the situation unfolded.
“I think a few of the others obviously didn’t like that because they wanted to protect whatever advantage they’ve got, so they went legal on you,” he said.
“You might want to talk to Supercars about their position, but obviously they buckled under the threat of legal action and decided to try to pull some of it back.”
Under the current framework, parity reviews after the first endurance event can only proceed where an issue had already been identified beforehand.
Centre of Gravity qualifies under that provision because it was already under review before The Bend.
The outcome of the Melbourne testing will now determine whether Supercars believes further weight or ballast adjustments are required across any of the three marques.
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