Supercars confirms formal homologation of Gen3 race cars

Supercars has confirmed that the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang have been formally homologated, ahead of the weekend’s Thrifty Newcastle 500.

The championship made the announcement through a statement issued on the Wednesday evening, prior to opening practice for the new season on Friday.

While said statement makes reference to parity testing at Temora Aerodrome last week, it does not confirm or rule out that any changes were made to race cars as a result of that activity.

As revealed by Speedcafe.com, the Camaro has been given new aerodynamic pieces, on either side of the front bar, which are understood to have given that vehicle a slight increase in front and total downforce.

The aforementioned statement begins as follows: “Supercars, together with the Homologation Teams representing General Motors and Ford, have agreed that after rigorous assessment and additional validation, the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang Supercars are formally homologated, meaning signed off for racing, for the opening round of the Repco Supercars Championship in Newcastle this weekend.

“This mutual achievement is the result of improved processes, robust scrutiny and procedures, clear communication between the manufacturers, and an improved and transparent collaboration among all stakeholders involved.

“The transition to the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, as part of the Gen3 product plan, is the biggest architectural change in Supercars history, and it has required a significant effort to ensure that technical parity is maintained as a fundamental cornerstone of the success of the sport.”

Supercars CEO Shane Howard said, via the same statement, “As part of upholding the integrity of the Championship, all parties will continue to work together to review data and the relative performance of our new vehicles.

“This is a pre-requisite for the ongoing success of the category, which falls under the parity review system which has been in place for more than 20 years.

“The Homologation teams, manufacturer representatives and Supercars worked in partnership to achieve this goal, resulting in over 2200km of running, undertaken across both brands during the VCAT validation testing last week.

“The Temora testing provided all parties with a high level of confidence, and we now look forward to the Thrifty Newcastle 500 this weekend with a completely reset and re-energised championship.

However, there remains the prospect of further changes in a bid to ensure parity, as evidenced from the comments in the statement attributed to Dick Johnson Racing engineer Perry Kapper.

Supercars’ statement went on to thank the manufacturers, all race teams including the homologation teams in particular, and its Motorsport Department for their efforts on the project.

Howard concluded, “We are excited to begin the next chapter of our sport this weekend at the Thrifty Newcastle 500, and building upon our reputation as what is arguably the World’s Best Touring Car Championship.”