MOTORSPORT: Chevrolet Camaro confirmed for Supercars

The introduction of the Chevrolet Camaro to Australian Supercars to fight the Ford Mustang from 2022 has been confirmed.

And if the actual racer looks as good as these images by former Holden design star Peter Hughes, then it’s going to be a ripper.

The arrival of the iconic Chev coincides with an outline of the Gen3 technical rules Australia’s only truly professional motorsport category will race under from 2022.

It will also mark a ‘back to the future’ moment as the Camaro and Mustang ruled Aussie racetracks in the early 1970s in the hands of Bob Jane and Allan Moffat respectively.

The sad news is the return of a road-going Camaro to Australia under the new GMSV banner is unlikely (see separate story) .

The Camaro/Gen3 announcement comes on the opening day of practice for the final Supercars event of 2020, the legendary Bathurst 1000.

While those Supercars cornerstones, the V8 engine and rear-wheel drive, are retained, Gen3 cars will also be “hybrid ready”.

Quite what that means and when it will be introduced isn’t explained in the press material issued today.

Supercars also promises better racing, targeting a downforce reduction of more than 50 per cent.

It is also aiming for a 30-40 per cent cost cut compared to Gen2 cars that are valued at about $700,000 brand-new.

“The Gen3 project will support the longevity of Supercars by increasing relevance to our fans and partners, reducing operating costs, and making the racing even fiercer,” said Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.

“The cars will have a lot less downforce than the current car, making the racing more spectacular and putting more reliance on driver skill,” he said.

It’s been a good month or two for Seamer who has locked down a new five-year TV deal, snared Repco as a big-spending naming rights backer of the championship and Bathurst for five years from 2021, and overseen a successful Supercars season despite COVID chaos.

A key cost saving will be a 600bhp engine horsepower limit at 7500rpm – a reduction of about 50bhp. A 100kg cut in car weight will retain the current power-to-weight ratio.

Rule changes are intended to make engines cheaper to buy and operate, achieve greater engine life, reduce fuel consumption and ensure more engine options can be competitive.

A category engine is also under consideration, which Supercars says could potentially reduce barriers to entry for other brands beyond Chev and Ford.

The front and rear suspensions will be control components. That’s a significant change from Gen2 that allowed front upright design freedoms that became a significant cost centre.

As part of the Gen3 transition the current Holden Commodore ZB will make way for the Chevrolet Camaro.

It’s a move made necessary because General Motors axed Holden last February. It’s also made possible because GM has signed an intellectual property agreement with Supercars to allow the development of a Gen3 Camaro.

That means a facsimile body will be shaped to fit over a control Supercars Gen3 chassis.

According to the Supercars press release the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is the model the Camaro racer will be based on. But it will have a naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre engine and not the production version’s supercharged 6.2-litre.

The Ford Mustang will get the same treatment. Modifications to the roll cage will help both cars look much more like their production counterparts than the current ‘Mutant Mustang’.

The roofline will be 100mm lower than Gen2 and overall width will stretch 100mm. Gen3 rules will also stipulate components including doors, roof, bonnet and windows have the same dimensions as production items.

Supercars teases there are negotiations underway with other manufacturers to secure IP agreements. It’s important to note gaining such an agreement with a brand would not necessarily mean a mass injection of cash along with it.

In fact, who would have control over vehicle development and homologation and who pays isn’t as yet clarified by Supercars.

But it is clearly signalling it intends to take a bigger stake in a process largely left to teams and manufacturers that led to faster cars, poorer racing and fractious parity battles.

Supercars says the Gen3 chassis will be lower, safer, lighter by 100kg at 1400kg, simpler and include more control components. The front and rear subframes will be detachable to aid repairs.

A new Dunlop control tyre will be introduced to offer a higher temperature working range and designed around lower downforce levels.

The fuel tank size will grow from 111 litres to 130 litres.

The gearbox/transaxle, control dampers and rear suspension design will carry over from Gen2.