Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards says rules to will see Supercars retain their road-going DNA will make the championship more attractive for manufacturers under Gen3.
Supercars today revealed details surrounding the new regulations set that will require the doors, roof, bonnet, and windows of the race car to have the same key dimensions as the road cars they are based on.
“The whole, or part of the concept of Gen3, is to make it more attractive to other manufacturers,” Edwards told Speedcafe.com.
“So whilst it might initially be with Ford and GM, who knows who might join us in the future?
“But you’ve got to make it attractive to them and you’ve got to make it that you don’t have to change the profile of their car too much to lose the base DNA of the car.
“Some manufacturers more than others are quite protective of that. In all, that’s been taken into consideration with the Gen3.
“Two-door cars vary considerably in size and height and wheelbase and all those sort of things,” he added.
“So, it’s to make it easier for them to come in. Whether they do or don’t in future, at least we’ve got a platform that’s ready for them if they do want to come and join the championship.”
Supercars has also signalled plans to develop a category-branded engine that manufacturers would be able to use rather than developing their own.
Easily adapting hybrid technology to the chassis is also key in the design of Gen3 for longevity.
“To be honest, a lot of that’s having ourselves ready,” Edwards said.
“Whether it is actually rolled out in 2022 is, I would have thought, probably unlikely. But we’re building a car that’s ready for it, so that when we do want to add those things it’s the whole platform, there’s space for it.
“You don’t want to find yourself in the position where in 18 months time you go ‘okay we want to put this battery there, oh we haven’t got room’.
“So this car, we certainly see this lasting for a considerable period of time. It’s trying to foresee the future as much as we can and put that into the design. It’s great.
“We’ve got to keep ourselves market-relevant but we’ve got to not lose sight of the fact that the theatre of these cars is the way they bounce over kerbs. It is the way they look, it is the way they sound, so the theatre of them is a very important part of what we do,” he added.
“We certainly don’t want to take away that raw Supercar, which is what they’re famous for. That’s what people like, enjoy watching us. It’s not going to buzz past down the straight not making any noise.”
Edwards says confirmation that the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will replace the Holden ZB Commodore is important for Ford teams and fans to have a rival model.
“From our own perspective, flying the Ford flag, we just didn’t want to go racing on our own so it’s great that we’ve got somebody to race against,” he said.
“It was no different to when Ford left the sport a few years ago and there was a bit of uncertainly on the blue side.
“The Holden fans were the first ones to come out and say they were just as upset as the Ford fans because they want someone to go up against as well.”
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