The failures were blamed on a supply quality issue, with Ford’s Supercars engine supplier Performance Powertrains deciding to switch to the same crank used in Ford’s GT3 engine.
The DJR-aligned business sprung into action sourcing 10 of the new-spec cranks from overseas and then fitting them to engines to ensure all 10 Mustangs had an updated engine for the Great Race.
The engines were ultimately delivered directly to Bathurst on the Thursday of the race weekend.
According to Story, the Bathurst engine effort was a huge drain on the Ford homologation program in many ways – including financially, where it ran into seven figures.
“We’ve spent all year working on our responsibilities as the homologation team, our responsibilities as the Ford engine supplier – that has taken up an obscene amount of resource, both personnel and capital,” he told Speedcafe.
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“And I don’t think that people fully comprehend or appreciate that there is no team in pit lane, and there’s probably no engine supplier in the world, who could have done what we did, getting those crankshafts to Bathurst.
“It was an extraordinary feat, and one that none of us have recovered from yet.
“The fact that we had a reliability challenge, and we were able to turn it around as quickly as we did, is incredibly encouraging.
“It was an enormous amount of work and effort, and we were prepared to commit the resources to it, and those resources reached into seven figures. I don’t know anyone else who would do that.”
Those reliability issues appear to have been fixed by the pre-Bathurst scramble, however there are ongoing question marks over the performance of the Ford V8 compared to its Chevrolet counterpart.
Supercars confirmed to Speedcafe in Adelaide that parity work is ongoing, with Story outlining that attention is now turning to minor tweaks in the search for equal performance.
“The reality is the job’s not done,” he said. “We know that, Supercars knows that, certainly Ford and the Ford teams know that, although it’s not my place to speak for anyone else. We have more work to do,
“I think that what we’re talking about at the moment is fine tuning. We’re not quite at polish a turd level yet; I’d like us to be, but I think there’s a bit to go there still.
“It’s much about processing data and doing some work as it is actually understanding what’s next to change about this. There’s nothing of great consequence to change, unlike where we were this time a year ago.”
DJR did at least enjoy a positive end to a difficult year, with both of its Mustangs showing good pace in Sunday’s Adelaide finale.
“Frankly, it’s relief,” said Story when asked how it felt for the season to be over.
“It’s relief that we close the book and effectively begin our new chapter. But to have genuine car pace on the last day of school is an encouraging way to end things.
“To have genuine car pace, to say goodbye to some good people who have been with us for a long time, who are going on to bigger and better things, as we begin our 2025 journey, is pretty exciting. Mixed emotions, in a lot of ways.”
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