MOTORSPORT: Ford fires back at Holden!

Holden’s claim the Ford Mustang Supercar has an unfair advantage has been rejected by the Ford factory-backed team that played a lead role in its development.

But DJR Team Penske boss, Ryan Story, says the umpire’s call will be respected if Supercars decides a technical parity adjustment is necessary to equalise competition between the Mustang, Holden Commodore ZB and Nissan Altima.

“We are not out there to get a free ride or have any sort of unfair advantage,” Story told carsales.

“We want to go out there and prove out this car and be successful on track. We don’t need to do it by having a different toolkit to anyone else.”

The Shell-sponsored DJR Team Penske Mustangs took both pole positions and won both races on debut last weekend in Adelaide at the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship opener. Lead Shell driver and defending Supercars champion, Scott McLaughlin, emerged with a perfect 300 points from the event.

While McLaughlin was supreme when it came to sustained race pace, team-mate Fabian Coulthard and the four Tickford Racing drivers also ran competitively in their new Mustangs and would have posted better results if not for a series of driver and team errors.

Roland Dane, the owner of the factory Red Bull Holden Racing Team, whose drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen managed a second and two third places in Adelaide, told carsales he was concerned about the look of the Mustang and how closely it adhered to the technical rulebook of the category.

And in a television interview post-race, Dane referred to “engineering the unfair advantage” and having to deal with that.

Speaking to carsales, Story countered Dane’s criticisms by pointing out the Mustang was signed off for competition by Supercars and all three homologation teams involved in the category (including Dane’s Red Bull Holden Racing Team), after the series’ own aerodynamic parity testing (referred to as ‘VCAT’) was completed.

“There’s nothing on that race car that wasn’t approved by the [Supercars] technical department before we put the components into production,” Story said.

The DJR Team Penske boss also said the Mustang followed the template established by the Commodore ZB 12 months earlier. Then the Holden traded most of its standard sheetmetal panels and parts for composites and created an eligibility storm.

“The changes in efficiencies that were allowed for the ZB were the benchmark for us,” Story said.

“We didn’t want to push the boundaries further than that and that’s precisely why we worked with Supercars every step of the way.”

Concerns about the Mustang highlighted by Dane include the height of the nose in relation to the bottom of the windscreen, the depth of the side skirts and the potential ballasting the car is carrying thereby improving its all-important centre of gravity.

The Supercars Mustang is the result of a global development program in which Ford Performance in the USA played the key aerodynamic role, while DJRTP and Ford-backed rival team Tickford provided local development input. Ford Design in Broadmeadows was the gatekeeper when it came to maintaining the visual connection between the Mustang Supercar and its road counterpart.

The Supercar Mustang has a higher roofline to fit over the standard Supercars ‘Gen2’ chassis roll hoop. Ford Design’s insistence the front fascia stay at the same height as the road car led to a pronounced upward curve of the bonnet to connect the two.

“We have certainly had our challenges fitting a Mustang to a control Supercars chassis,” admitted Story.

“But we are proud of how things turned out. We set out to make a fast car and maybe there’s some polarising opinions on how it looks, but the fan support we have had and the feedback across the Adelaide weekend has been really, really positive.

“You’re always going to get doubters no matter what you do,” Story stated.

All participants in this debate agree it’s too soon to make a parity call. Several events need to be run and won before a trend appears. Having said that, rivals are concerned the upcoming Albert Park and Phillip Island circuits will favour the Ford because high-speed aerodynamic grip is the key to fast laps. Adelaide, by contrast, apart from turn eight, is all about mechanical grip, something the Mustang clearly possessed.

“All we can do is defer to the process and trust in Supercars and the technical department to manage things accordingly,” said Story.

“The VCAT was the closest in history, something has been well attested.

“We will wait and see what happens. I don’t think everyone was operating on all cylinders in Adelaide. I certainly don’t think Triple Eight [RBHRT] was at its best last weekend and I think we will see more from it over the next few events.

“We are not resting on our laurels. We are going to continue to work hard to stay where we are and hopefully be up at the point end of the field,” Story stated.