MOTORSPORT: Ford Mustang on track

Ford fans already looking forward to 2019 and the arrival of the Mustang in Supercars racing should hope for an improvement in performance from the current Falcon FG X, starting with this weekend’s Phillip Island 500.

Such is the technical uniformity of Supercars racing that much of what the big Ford teams, DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing, learn through the remainder of this year will adapt straight to the new Mustang.

A racing facsimile of the two-door coupe body will have to sit on the same 2822mm wheelbase as the Falcon and be shaped to fit over the standard Gen2 chassis. It’s the same deal for the Holden ZB Commodore and Nissan Altima that race this year.

“What sits under the skin of this car (Falcon) carries over,” said Tim Edwards, team principal of Tickford Racing. “All the suspension and the engine and all that sort of stuff, any gains we find in that area are in the 2019 car as well.”

Tickford chief engineer Nathaniel Osborne and his DJR Team Penske equivalent Ludo Lacroix are working together on the development of the Mustang, feeding back information to Ford Performance, the Blue Oval’s motorsport and hot tuner division, which is carrying out the “grunt work” on the crucial development of the racing body and its aerodynamics.

This is a completely different approach to the way the new ZB was developed. Holden’s local motor racing partner, Triple Eight Race Engineering, developed the car here, tapping into the aerodynamics expertise of UK consultancy Wirth Research.

“The support from Ford performance in the Mustang program means we can still get more out of this car,” said Edwards.

And there’s no doubt the Ford teams do need to extract more from the Falcon if they are going to get back on terms with the new ZB.

Holden drivers have won seven of the eight races won so far and claimed six of the eight pole positions. Scott McLaughlin, who sits second in the championship, has taken the other win and two poles in his Shell Falcon.

At least DJRTP looks competitive against the ZBs primarily thanks to McLaughlin, but Tickford Racing needs a big lift after Tasmania, where it struggled to get a car into the top 10 and star driver Chaz Mostert’s Falcon actually caught fire in pitlane during the Saturday race.

There’s no doubt the ZB’s specification has non-Holden teams up in arms. Its extensive use of composite panels has allowed it to come in about 40kg under-weight, which means ballast is being placed low in the car to bulk it up. Rivals claim that delivers a mid-corner speed advantage.

To compensate, Supercars has allowed the Fords and Nissan to run composite roof and bonnet panels as well.

But the other factor is the slippery shape of the ZB. While official parity testing is conducted using a 200km/h roll-down test, it’s at higher speeds than that where the ZB is supposedly showing itself to be more efficient than the Falcon and the Nissan.

Phillips Island’s high-speed straights and turns look like a great place for the ZB to shine through two 500km races, although the place has a habit of turning up surprises.

Last year a string of tyre blowouts dominated the racing. The championship has reverted to its 2016-spec Dunlop rubber for this season.

Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup leads the championship by just 11 points from McLaughlin and 2018 surprise package David Reynolds, in the Penrite Erebus Commodore.

Pictured: 2019 Ford Mustang NASCAR teaser