Triple Eight Race Engineering Team Manager Mark Dutton believes that a new aerodynamic package for the Mustang should allow the Ford Supercars teams to become “very strong”.
The Mustangs have rolled out with new rear-end bodywork this weekend at the NTI Townsville 500 after an official parity review found that they were at a deficiency with respect to downforce when the car pitched under brakes.
However, it was not enough to snap what is now a 15-race winning streak for Chevrolet teams, with Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown converting from pole position and Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney finishing second in Race 16 of the Repco Supercars Championship in another Camaro.
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, who used a three-stop strategy to claim third in his #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang, was scathing about both the new aero package itself and also Supercars’ reliance on runway testing for homologation.
However, Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters, who drove the next Mustang home in fifth, continued to reserve his judgement on the parity changes.
Dutton, a senior figure in the Chevrolet homologation team, was closer to the Waters position than that of Mostert but did venture that Triple Eight’s Blue Oval rivals will indeed enjoy a gain from the tweaks once they understand them.
“It’s hard to hard to call,” the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team Manager told Speedcafe.
“I mean, when you do the changes, there is definitely a period to rebalance the car; I think you’ve seen that with Waters.
“Waters has been strong all year and then they changed the car; yeah, give it more potential, more downforce, et cetera, but more is still different.
“So, obviously, they’re working really hard and you saw all the teams get some better pace and be able to tune their cars a bit but then not have the tyre life.
“So, that looks more like a set-up/driver driving to the new set-up where it’s not refined.
“You can’t be refined when you’ve had two practice sessions and a quali.
“That’s not a go at anyone; that’s the reality of how tight this series is.
“Even though they’ve got these handouts, it still takes a little bit of time to maximise them.”
Dutton added that there is, “More to come from them.
“When they extract the maximum out of what they’ve been given, they will be very strong.”
Triple Eight was strong in Race 16, albeit not the strongest team, with Feeney finishing three second behind Brown and Shane van Gisbergen taking fourth.
The latter might have been expected to profit more from a late Safety Car period given he adopted his usual strategy of running longer than most, but complained of a brake drama in the closing stages.
“He was having some brake issues so we’re trying to understand exactly what that is,” advised Dutton, post-race.
“It was getting a firm pedal and not the retardation, so that can be caused from lots of things, whether it’s the brakes being worn out, or the brakes on too much as well and overheating.
“We had some times when it looked like we were getting a bit too much brake drag as well. We’d lose some straight-line speed and the engine looked totally fine.
“So, both of those things in the last stint really sort of hamstrung us to be able to come through the field like you would have expected Shane to.”
Feeney, though, is on a run of six podiums in a row now, closing to one point behind second place in the championship after Brodie Kostecki experienced multiple dramas in Race 16, although all of his five career race wins to date have come on Sundays.
“You’ve seen Broc all year just be consistent, and have really strong Sundays,” noted Dutton.
“Of the last few events, the Saturdays have gotten stronger again and following up with Sunday.
“We want to keep building on that momentum. If we can have a stronger Sunday – he’s the Sunday kid – then [today] should be some fun.”
Qualifying for Race 17 starts at 10:00 local time/AEST.
Additional reporting: Mark Fogarty
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