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Macauley Jones expects a “big difference” from the changes to the Gen3 chassis which have been made in a bid to make the new Supercars more robust.
Teams incurred a surprisingly high level of accident damage in the first two race events of the Gen3 era, at Newcastle East and Albert Park, with changes now decided upon ahead of the trip across the Nullarbor to the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.
The modifications pertain to both the front and rear clips, with the addition of gusseting such that steering arms should bend before the damage is transferred to the clip itself.
Speaking in the latest episode of the BJR Run Down podcast, Jones explained, “Where the clevises bolt on is kind of a flat face and they’re welded onto the rear clip, in the birdcage kind of area, which is all the bar work.
“So they’ve got gussets that are now being welded onto them to give them a bit more strength and stop them sort of bending when you do have a side impact.
“What was happening at AGP [Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park] was, if you tap the walls square, it would bend the actual clevis pick-up point before it would bend anything else.
“So, it’s damaging the chassis itself instead of anything else and so now they’re trying to strengthen that to stop that happening, you’re trying to strengthen the weakest part really.
“I think that’ll make a big difference in being able to make repairs and fix things if anything does go wrong.”
The changes are optional, but it is understood that every team will implement them either before or after the Wanneroo Raceway event next week.
Not officially mandating them, however, means teams are able to action the changes at a time which suits their workload and travel plans.
