Claim from Ford camp that Supercars parity trigger has been hit

It has been claimed via a Ford Australia press release that an official Supercars parity trigger has been hit “constantly”.

Multiple Ford team bosses were vocal in their concern about a possible technical disparity following yet another Chevrolet rout, with Camaros taking eight of the nine podium finishes on offer at the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

Now, official communication from within the Blue Oval has further stoked the parity debate, with an assertion that the Supercars parity trigger has been hit several times.

It quoted Tickford Racing Team Principal Tim Edwards declaring, “There is something wrong.

“The parity keeps getting triggered constantly.

“It’s six or seven races now where we’ve hit the trigger.”

The ‘trigger’ to which Edwards refers is a condition stipulated within the Teams Racing Charter, which outlines the rights and responsibilities of being an entrant in the Repco Supercars Championship.

Although details are a closely guarded secret, it is a formula based on session results and has existed as a concept within the championship for at least two decades.

If the results are too lopsided, then the parity trigger has been hit and Supercars is obliged to make certain undertakings.

Those undertakings are not necessarily a change to technical specifications, although it is thought that some sort of investigation must at least be conducted.

Edwards does not explicitly assert that there is an actual disparity in the above quoted comment, nor others within the same press release including a suggestion that the Chevrolet teams are only “racing against two-thirds of the field.”

However, Stephen Grove, owner of his eponymous, two-car team, was quoted highlighting a specific parity issue, namely aerodynamics.

“Obviously, parity is not helping us,” he asserted.

“There is a serious parity issue with the aero of the cars that needs to be addressed. We just cannot get any life out of our rear tyres.”

Grove did add, though, “But, beyond that, we need to re-group and do a better job.

“It was a bad weekend for us. We made too many mistakes in the cars and outside the cars.”

The three race wins at Hidden Valley were shared among as many Chevrolet teams – namely Triple Eight Race Engineering (four podiums in total), Team 18, and Matt Stone Racing – with Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner also claiming multiple podiums.

Ironically, the championship-leading Erebus Motorsport squad missed out on a rostrum finish for the first time all year (although its sole podium in Newcastle was a function of a Triple Eight disqualification).

Edwards stated via the Ford press release, “There are some stand-out teams on the other side, because they have beaten Triple Eight, but they are only racing against two-thirds of the field.”

He told media including Speedcafe earlier today that Ford teams are “as frustrated and bemused” as their fans, while Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Bruce Stewart ventured there is more than “white noise”, to borrow a Jamie Whincup turn of phrase, in the lopsided results.

Those remarks followed comments from Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook in recent weeks that the marque’s commitment to categories such as Supercars depends on the “opportunity to win”.