Crash box update for Gen3 Supercars

The Ford Mustangs are not the only Gen3 Supercars sporting technical updates this weekend at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.

Speedcafe has learned that the rear crash box structure has been updated since the NTI Townsville 500, a change which would apply also to the Chevrolet Camaro.

It was in fact a Camaro, namely the Truck Assist Racing entry of Cameron Hill, which was issued a mechanical black flag during Race 17 of the season.

His stray diffuser at Turn 6 of the Reid Park Street Circuit caused the Lap 36 Safety Car period which fell very kindly for Anton De Pasquale, who went on to win the Townsville finale.

Car #35 was running seventh, essentially on merit, when it was ordered to the pits to fix the crash box structure some time later.

Hill, who would finish four laps down in 22nd, said post-race, “A Safety Car brought us back into contention as we had just pitted, so we stayed out and gained a lot of track position to be inside the top five for some of the race.

“It was awesome to run up the front and if you look at the drivers, we were in the same strategy with all who were in the top 10 at the end of the race.

“If we hadn’t received the meatball flag for the rear of the car coming off, who knows where we may have been able to finish?”

Speedcafe understands that the change to the crash box relates to how it is mounted.

Teams up and down pit lane had been left frustrated by a spate of control parts failures during the weekend of racing around the gruelling Townsville street circuit, with steering racks a particular pain point.

Parity also remained a question mark, with a new spec of throttle body approved for the Mustangs in recent days.

Meanwhile, after handling niggles at both Hidden Valley and Townsville, Triple Eight Race Engineering has opted to swap Shane van Gisbergen into the Camaro which is normally the Supercheap Auto wildcard entry.

Support categories are on-track today at Sydney Motorsport Park, with the Supercar Championship field heading out for Practice 1 tomorrow from 12:15 local time/AEST.