As revealed by Speedcafe on Sunday, the new parity review system has been triggered by both the Camaro and Toyota Supra following the Taupo Super440.
The triggering of the lap time-based system requires Supercars to conduct an investigation, with changes to be made only if there is sound technical basis for doing so.
That’s the fine line Supercars attempts to walk between separating technical parity from the differing driver/team abilities that also determine on-track performance.
GM and its homologation squad Team 18 have already prepared aerodynamic revisions that it says could be readied for Ruapuna.
It’s claimed the Windshear wind tunnel testing resulted in all three cars being matched on total downforce, but not balance, which GM wants to correct.
Brown, whose Triple Eight team switched from Chevrolet to Ford this year, spoke out on the subject via his Lucky Dogs Podcast.
“This is going to be controversial but you can’t just give GM a leg-up because the teams or the drivers aren’t doing as good of a job right now,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Erebus haven’t had the best run, MSR haven’t.
“I’d say Team 18 have probably stepped up more than I thought this year, they’ve done a pretty good job, but then also PremiAir have two rookies as well.
“You’ve got two of the teams have got rookies pretty much in both cars, then MSR has a rookie and Jack [Le Brocq].
“I don’t know how you work that out on track performance.”
Brown’s view appears widely held amongst the Ford camp, which is campaigning for status quo in a reversal of parity arguments in recent years.
GM’s stocks were greatly weakened by Triple Eight’s switch to Ford, making the current parity argument somewhat inevitable.
Ford has won seven of the first nine races of the year between its leading teams Triple Eight and Dick Johnson Racing, with single victories to GM (Team 18) and Toyota (Walkinshaw TWG).
Brown suggested GM needs to poach a top team from a rival manufacturer to improve its performance.
“I think you’ve got to throw money at Groves to get a team like that across,” he said, before adding. “It depends where Matt Payne’s going, I guess…”
GM and Team 18 are known to be chasing the services of Payne, but may have to wait until 2028 as the driver is under contract to Grove Racing for another season.
The General has already nabbed Grove technical director Grant McPherson to lead its in-house technical operations once a six-month notice period is served.
Grove had declined an approach to switch to GM in the aftermath of Triple Eight’s defection, electing to stick with the Blue Oval.
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