Supercars to take away Penske Mustang CoG advantage (Update)

Roger unhappy Supercars too away his 'Unfair Advanatage' (Recall the book)

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today.

Supercars has ratified center of gravity tweaks to both the Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore ahead of next week’s Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint following testing.

The test was triggered by claims from rival teams that the Mustang holds a significant CoG and aero advantage over the Commodore and Nissan Altima Supercars following its impressive championship debut.

Having analyzed data collected since Adelaide, Supercars has advised Ford and Holden teams of the changes to the cars which have now been formally approved by the Supercars Commission which met today.

The Nissan Altima will remain unchanged.

Supercars has released a lengthy statement clarifying the processes which it has undertaken to arrive at a decision:

The Supercars Championship is underpinned by technical parity. That is, the sport seeks to minimize any technical differences between models of vehicle in the spirit of equitable competition.

Supercars does not pursue sporting parity, which seeks the equalization of the abilities of participating drivers and or teams.

It is important to note the constitution of Supercars includes the premise that incoming models must meet the incumbents. The purpose of this is to ensure those new models do not unduly increase the costs for current teams in pursuit of technical parity.

It is this principle which has been the cornerstone of Supercars’ success, producing the world’s best door to door racing with cars competing within tenths of a second.

Because of this, Supercars as a Series, and the teams that compete within it, must use best endeavors to manage and uphold technical parity as much as is reasonably possible.

Each year construction methods and materials used in the development of Supercars moves on. Every new car, logically, brings a series of developments and changes. With those changes, which are within the rules, technical variances between models can occur.

The most recent example is the introduction of the Ford Mustang, the first two door car to enter the Series. Similarly, the introduction of the ZB Commodore in 2018 brought with it new methods and materials.

On presentation of the Mustang at Adelaide, the Supercars technical department recorded a significant increase in ballast as compared to the previous model, the Ford Falcon.

To ensure competing teams did not have a technical advantage, the technical department, on instruction of the Commission, conducted center of gravity testing on the 18th and 19th of March in Melbourne.

The results of the tests show that the Commodore and the Mustang had a Center of Gravity advantage over the Altima. These results have been reviewed by the Commission and the homologation teams along with plans to address with the appropriate ballasting of the Commodore and the Mustang to maintain technical parity.

The same and equal change is being made to all models. That is to say, there is no change in relative performance between teams using the same model of vehicle, only a redressing of the technical differences between the models in accordance with Supercars’ constitution.

The proposal has been approved by the Supercars Commission and the changes will be implemented for Tasmania.

The new Penske Mustang has buried the competition due to a favorable center of gravity

03/26/19 Supercars is expected to determine if changes will be made to the Ford Mustang for the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint by the end of the week.

The championship has been collecting data from the Mustang since its impressive debut in Adelaide with the car going on to record every pole position and race win, and 12 of the 18 available podium places.

Its success has triggered a parity debate with rival teams claiming the car has a center of gravity (CoG) and aero advantage.

Speedcafe.com hears that it is highly likely changes will be made to Mustang’s center of gravity at least.

This arrives following the championship’s two-day test that saw 10 cars, including the Shell V-Power Racing and Tickford Fords, evaluated at Kelly Racing’s workshop.

Likewise, it is believed that Holden teams have been advised there will be tweaks to the ZB Commodore’s center of gravity.

Supercars is yet to confirm any possible changes for Tasmania, which will require approval, but has told this website that its technical team is continuing to work through the data gathered, and will determine the results by the end of the week.

The championship is however expected to release an official statement as early as tomorrow.

It has however issued the following;

“Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess and the Technical Department have completed the Center of Gravity analysis with recommendations to be tabled to and considered by the Supercars Commission as soon as possible.

“Further updates will be shared by the end of the week."

Any tweaks to center of gravity will arrive with no rule governing CoG in place.