Off the back of a turbulent 2023 when it came to parity in Supercars, the competition has clearly been more even this year with drivers from both sides of the divide banking wins.
However, the wins have been curiously grouped with all seven events so far seeing either a Chevrolet or Ford whitewash.
Camaros did the winning across the Bathurst 500 and Melbourne SuperSprint weekends, although the latter was skewered by front-running Fords crashing into each other while in potential winning positions.
The Camaros continued winning in New Zealand before Ford drivers Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters broke through in Perth.
Darwin was again dominated by Chevs, while Townsville and Sydney saw four Ford wins on the bounce.
The grouping has prompted suggestions that the 2024-spec cars are better suited to a particular circuit based on manufacturer.
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That’s not the view of Supercars General Manager of Motorsport Tim Edwards, though. While he recognises the grouping, he reckons car speed is far more dependant on set-up and driver preference than bodywork, which means there is an element of coincidence to the results.
“I think there’s a greater difference between the ways the cars are set up, and there’s always tracks that suit some drivers, they excel at certain tracks,” he told Speedcafe.
“So there’s always an element of drivers go well at this type of track or that type of track.
“And then it’s the way teams set their cars up. We are in the fortunate position where we actually have all that information, so we can see where the fast cars are set up and where the ones that aren’t so fast are set up.
“I think what cloaks [the car], what sits around the outside, isn’t necessarily the determining factor. It’s more about how you set the car up.
“Maybe there is a little bit of what you’re talking about, but I think – having been privy to where they’re all set up – there’s a far bigger difference there to what sits on the outside of your car.”
That, says Edwards, is sporting parity at work – while he also highlights that technical alliances such as the one between Triple Eight, Matt Stone Racing and PremiAir Racing contributes to lopsided results.
“It’s just sporting parity,” he said. “I’ve seen teams with tyre pressures five psi different to the people in the garage next door. I sit there kind of shaking my head and going, ‘I wish we could go and tap them on the shoulder and say let your tyres down, pump your tyres up’.
“But I can’t. That’s not our job, that’s sporting parity.
“And obviously the teams aren’t privy to that [information], nor am I going to give you an indication as to what teams I’m talking about. But we see a big variation in what teams are doing.
“And then you’ve got teams that are also sort of tethered together, because they’re all running a set-up that they’ve bought from another team. Well, if the team they’ve bought it from hasn’t done a great job, then there’s a fair chance they’re not going to do a great job.
“If you look at Darwin results and look at Townsville results, you can kind of pinpoint a few things there as well.”
This weekend’s trip to Symmons Plains will be interesting in terms of form, given there hasn’t been a Camaro win since Darwin.
But, powerhouse Triple Eight has used one of its test days since Sydney in the pursuit of improved speed, and Symmons is a circuit with a strong history favouring General Motors products.
The last time a Ford won a Supercars race there was Scott McLaughlin back in 2019 in the all-conquering Gen2 Mustang.
As for the latest on Supercars parity, the series is currently midway through a transient dyno testing programme in the US which is hoped will put a full stop on the debate that has raged for much of the Gen3 era.
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