The new minimum weight of 1345kg (including the weight of the driver wearing their apparel) marks a 5kg increase compared to 2025.

It’s the second time that’s happened since Gen3 was introduced three years ago, with minimum also upped by 5kg midway through 2023.

On this occasion the extra 5kg has also been added to the minimum front axle weight, which is now at 730kg.

Supercars motorsport chief Tim Edwards says the change is about preventing teams from tearing up money trying to get down to the minimum.

“Some cars really struggle to get the front axle weight,” Edwards told Speedcafe.

“A bit of weight always creeps into the cars over time. The panels get heavier as they get repaired, we add extra sensors to the car, whatever it might be.

“Unfortunately it’s not like we can put the cars on a diet. They inherently just sneak up and up, it’s 100 grams here and there.”

The original target for Gen3 was to trim around 100kg from the 1400kg Gen2 machines to improve performance and reduce use of consumables.

While there was talk after Gen3’s debut that a weight reduction program could still be on the cards, it’s not proven a priority for the category.

“You’re always thinking about it but the reality is, cost containment is another one of our responsibilities,” said Edwards.

“What we don’t want is people throwing away panels instead of repairing them, because otherwise their car will be too heavy.

“We’ve changed a few parts on the car for reliability reasons [since Gen3’s debut] and quite often you’ll make it heavier to make it more robust.

“It’s one of those things. Yes, we’ve made the car lighter than the previous model.

“Did we make it as light as we want? No, but we also don’t want to inflict a whole lot of cost on the series for probably no benefit to anybody.”