Post-practice meetings will determine if parity adjustments will be made for Bathurst. Image: InSyde Media
The category has now concluded a much-anticipated study into the impact of barometric pressure on the Ford and GM engines.
Testing at Supercars’ Brisbane dyno began last week and concluded on Wednesday while teams were setting up at Mount Panorama.
Supercars motorsport boss Tim Edwards confirmed to Speedcafe that cars will take to the track for Practice 1 in the specification they ran at The Bend.
However, Supercars is not ruling out making changes following the key meeting with homologation teams Dick Johnson Racing (Ford) and Team 18 (GM).
“We’ve done some barometric testing, and we’ve got the results of that which we’re presenting to the homologation teams,” Edwards told Speedcafe.
“They’re already a bit across it but we’ve compiled it all into a more in-depth report that we’ll be sharing with them.
“At the end of the day, there’s rules around making changes within a season and we’ve just got to work through that process.”
Although the details of the process are unclear, it appears both HTs will need to sign-off on any changes for them to be approved.
Supercars permitted aerodynamic and shift-cut changes for the Blue Oval ahead of the most recent round at The Bend.
Those changes were made with a view to improving the straight-line speed of the Mustangs, which has been a particular issue at Bathurst the last two years.
While not involved in the discussions directly, team bosses from GM teams Triple Eight and Brad Jones declared ahead of Practice 1 that no changes should be made.
“It’s in its infancy, the testing. There’s been a handful of tests done,” said Triple Eight manager Mark Dutton.
“A lot of effort goes into it, but there’s not a lot of places in the world that do this type of testing.
“So it’s really hard to make sure you’re doing gold standard, being scientific, doing the level that you need to for the level of the sport we’re all competing at here, the level of investment everyone puts in.
“To make changes, even if they are small, when something hasn’t been properly, scientifically ratified, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”
Added Brad Jones: ‘If you did [make changes], you’d need to take all of the changes you made for Tailem Bend off it, wouldn’t you, because [the engine] was really what the problem was.
“I think it would be a big change if you were to do that. Imagine them all scurrying around in the next 40 minutes taking the aero back off the car.”
Tickford Racing CEO Simon Brookhouse meanwhile exuded confidence the Mustangs can be competitive regardless of any further changes.
“We’ve got to be realistic about it, it is what it is,” he said.
“We were obviously competitive at Tailem [Bend].
“We weren’t as competitive as we would have liked to be here last year, but understanding the car better this year, and obviously the changes we made to the aero at Tailem made a difference, so we come here quite confident we’ll be really competitive.”
Ford teams DJR, Tickford and Grove Racing locked out the podium at Tailem Bend, on a day where top GM runner Triple Eight fumbled in pit lane.