MOTORSPORT: Runaway Mustang still on the run

Plans to rein-in the rampaging Ford Mustang have run into a serious Supercars setback.

Aero testing of the championship winning Mustang went awry in the run-up to Christmas and the Supercars technical team will re-assemble next week to do it again.

The objective is to ensure aero parity between the Mustang and Holden Commodore, while also reducing the overall downforce applied to both cars so the racing becomes closer in 2020.

Errors in the original work on VCAT – Vehicle Control Aerodynamic Testing – at the Oakey Army Aviation Centre in Queensland before Christmas means the whole Ford-versus-Holden program will have to be run again.

That means both DJR Team Penske and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team – which are responsible for the technical operations on opposite sides of the blue-and-red divide – are having to re-prepare cars for the work.

More than a dozen team members will be sent to the revised test, while Ford will also be flying its aero experts back from the USA.

The head of motorsport at Supercars, Adrian Burgess, confirmed to carsales that there were problems with the original VCAT result that has created the problem and the need for a re-run.

“We weren’t happy with the logic/maths used for a particular sensor used in the drag calculation. Supercars identified the concern and, together with the homologation teams, we agreed to go back and improve it,” said Burgess.

Despite the drama, he is happy with the revised procedure for 2020 and the objective of ensuring proper parity between the Mustang and Commodore, which was the biggest source of complaints through the 2019 season.

There were three aero adjustments last year, two to trim the wings on the Mustang and the final effort to boost the competitiveness of the Commodore and Nissan Altima.

“The whole process is far more sophisticated than previous aero tests and the best we can do without a wind tunnel. Dynamic ride height adjustment means the process now captures a much wider operating envelope for the cars in race trim.

“It’s about refining the accuracy even further than before.”

Burgess confirms the overall aero reduction for 2020, as well as the parity objective.

“Yes, around 10 per cent. The objective is to match the two brands as close as possible across a range of race set-ups.”

But he says Supercars fans will not see any obvious visual change to the cars.

“No, the changes, whilst they shed 10 per cent of downforce, aren’t that visible from the armchair or grandstand.”

He also reports no major cost increase as the result of the VCAT work.

“Very minimal – we could have opted to remove more downforce, but it would have come at a cost to the teams with a lot of redundant parts.”