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Three Camaros underwent engine changes on the Saturday night of the Betr Darwin Triple Crown, namely the #1 Erebus Motorsport entry of Brodie Kostecki, the #10 Matt Stone Racing entry of Nick Percat, and the #96 Brad Jones Racing entry of Macauley Jones.
Kostecki had been beset by engine dramas in Friday practice and then failed to start Saturday’s race after an issue on the lap to the grid.
The other two cars were found to have metal in the filter and were changed for precautionary reasons, after Percat had finished a solid seventh in the weekend’s first 48-lap encounter.
All three were fresh engines in the sense that they were being raced for the first time since their most recent rebuild, with one theory in the paddock being that there is a batch issue with a particular part.
Whatever the case may be, more will be known once they are back at KRE, which supplies all of the Chevrolet teams, this Friday.
KRE owner Kenny McNamara told Speedcafe, “Until we get them Friday, I don’t really know.
“Then we’ll have a look and we’ll make a decision on what we need to do, and if there are any others that we think are a problem.
“They all ran fine on the track – two of them did – but it’s like we’ve had over the years. The old ones used to make metal pretty regularly when this is wearing out or that is wearing out, but these one’s have been pretty good so it was a bit odd to have any dramas.”
Engines have in fact been one of the success stories of Gen3 in so much that costs have been slashed, service intervals have increased, and reliability has been good.
During the weekend, Supercars confirmed the timeline for AVL transient dyno testing in the United States, a project which should put the matter to rest.
A set-up phase will take place after the NTI Townsville 500 (July 5-7) then the first official phase after the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight (July 19-21).
