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Ford Supercars teams were spotted engaged in a long meeting in the Mount Panorama paddock after the Top 10 Shootout, amid ongoing Bathurst 1000 parity fears.
Representatives of Ford itself and at least four of the five squads fielding Mustangs spent more than half an hour engaged in talks in front of the tyre tents of homologation team Dick Johnson Racing.
Speedcafe spotted Ford Australia CEO Andrew Birkic, Motorsport Manager Ben Nightingale, and Motorsport Engineer Brendan McGinniskin; DJR CEO David Noble and co-owner Brett Ralph; Tickford Racing Team Principal Tim Edwards and co-owner Rod Nash; plus Walkinshaw Andretti United Director/co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw and Technical Director Carl Faux; while Blanchard Racing Team Co-Principal/co-driver Tim Blanchard later joined in.
Speedcafe understands that they remain concerned about a rout at the hands of the Bowtie brigade in tomorrow’s Great Race, with suggestions they are two to three kilometres per hour slower up Mountain Straight and down Conrod Straight, albeit competitive across the top.
Ford and its teams had campaigned vigorously for aerodynamic adjustments on the way to and upon arrival at Bathurst earlier this week but were unsuccessful, given the parity trigger has not been hit of late and Chevrolet teams did not consent.
The top Mustang on the starting grid tomorrow is set to be the #6 Tickford entry of Cam Waters, who earned third thanks to his exploits in the Top 10 Shootout this afternoon.
He clocked a lap just 0.0226s slower than that of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Broc Feeney, while Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki stormed to pole position by almost half a second in his #99 Camaro.
The Mustangs have arguably been competitive with all but one of the Camaros thus far this weekend at Mount Panorama, and that continued when six made the shootout, raising the question as to whether or not the pre-race alarm over parity was overblown.
However, the picture is still cloudy with respect to longer runs, and it has often been the case this year that the Mustangs have been quick in qualifying trim but unable to sustain it in race conditions.
READ MORE: Why Ford’s Supercar future looks uncertain: Opinion
That was a point made by Waters when asked by Speedcafe if he thinks he is capable of keeping touch with the Camaros over 161 laps.
“It’s been the story of the year, hasn’t it?” he began in response.
“Over a race distance, we’re nowhere, so I can’t really answer that question for you; I’m not really sure.
“I still think we’ve got dramas and race pace dramas, so hopefully have a bit of luck tomorrow and I’ll rag the thing for the time that I’m in the car and Moff [co-driver James Moffat] does the same, and hopefully something happens.”
Waters was ultra-committed across the top during his shootout lap, kicking up a puff of dust at McPhillamy Park and bumping the wall exiting Forrest’s Elbow.
His was the fastest second sector of the one-lap dash until Kostecki blew them all away, although Car #99 was only 0.0926s quicker than Car #6 through that split from Reid Park to the start of Conrod Straight.
Ford figures have surmised that their aero package has become more draggy since new bodywork was implemented at the NTI Townsville 500, and their proposal
Consistent with the aforementioned suggestions about straight-line speed, Waters quipped that he will need a slipstream tomorrow to keep pace with those in front.
“If I drive around in the slipstream all day, that probably will help me quite a lot, said the two-time Bathurst 1000 pole-sitter.
“I think it was three or four tenths down the straights, so that was a big chunk of my time.
“Over the top was probably where I made all my time back up but Brodie was a little bit quicker over the top as well, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Warm Up is scheduled for 08:00 local time and the Race itself at 11:15 (all times local/AEDT).
