Mostert: Mustang offers no driver change advantage

There is no advantage to be gained for Ford teams during driver changes as a result of the Mustang’s larger doors, according to Chaz Mostert.

Boasting larger doors than the four door Commodore, the opening for drivers to climb in and out of the car is therefore larger, but Mostert suggests other aspects work to balance out that gain.

“Our door is long enough to be two doors, so it’s like the whole side of the car’s open, so we can just slide on in,” the 2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winner told Speedcafe.com.

“There’s no advantage or no disadvantage really, (you’ve) still got to get around the roll cage as it is,” he added.

“I feel you’ve got to move a bit more as a driver because you open the door and to get the latch for the window net is a bit further, but the driver in the cabin’s still got to get out as well.”

Inside the car the requirements of the driver remain unchanged, with the seat belts, coolsuit, radio, and air hose all needing to be managed for both drivers.

“You’ve still got to make sure all your belts are done up, your air hose, your coolsuit and all that kind of stuff anyway,” Mostert explained.

“You’re generally going anywhere from 17 seconds to 25 seconds, averaging around there; that’s a generally safe time.”

During the Bathurst 1000, driver changes are typically covered by the fuel delivery, which is generally the longest component of a pit stop.

Team boss Tim Edwards shared Mostert’s opinion, suggesting that while it may be easier for the drivers to get in and out of the car, there’s little in it.

“The times that they were doing it (driver change) in were very similar to what we did on the Falcon, so no real difference there. No change,” he told Speedcafe.com.

“Yeah, maybe they’re getting in slightly easier with a bigger door aperture, but the times are pretty much identical.

“We’ve got a target time that they aim to do, and the target time from last year was the same as this year, and they’re all doing that.”

Track action at this year’s Bathurst 1000 begins on Thursday with three 60 minute practice sessions.