GM’s response to losing Triple Eight this year including instigating a program whereby its teams share data and setup information for mutual benefit.
Team 18, PremiAir Racing and Matt Stone Racing all opted in immediately, while Erebus declined – stressing a desire to maintain its independence.
However, the squad quietly joined the program ahead of Darwin – the addition of Chevrolet branding to the roof of its two Camaros the only external sign.
Erebus’ initial decision to snub the program was a surprise given the inexperience of its line-up consisting of second-year driver Murray and rookie Jobe Stewart.
Murray and Stewart currently sit 22nd and 24th in the championship respectively, while Erebus is 11th and last of the multi-car squads in the teams’.
“The whole Chevy camp wants to get better and I think being a part of it should help that,” explained Murray on Drivers’ Only.
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“You’ve got four teams working together now, it’s better than just two cars. The more that we can learn, the better we can get.
“From a driver’s side of things, it’s good being able to look at, say, Anton [De Pasquale]’s data and that as well.
“You can see what they’re doing, then you can just improve.
“But it’s about getting better as a whole package and getting back to probably where we were in the back half of last year.
“We were in a really good spot then, we just need to work back towards that.”
The GM team alliance is not the only data sharing program in the current Supercars field.
Toyota outfits Walkinshaw TWG and Brad Jones Racing share information, while the Blanchard Racing Team is a customer of Ford homologation squad Triple Eight.
Asked if the GM alliance helps “take the guess work out” of the process when going racing, Murray said: “It does.
“You’re not guessing if you’re in the right window to go in the right direction or you’re going in the completely wrong direction.
“Whether I’m driving it correctly, it’s all those little things you can take out of your head and just get on with what you’ve got to do.”
Murray was 13th in the Friday sprint at Hidden Valley before finishing 22nd (following a penalty) and 20th in the weekend’s 200km races.
“I feel like we can get good one lap pace out of it, but just in the racing we’re really struggling with keeping the tyre underneath us,” he said.
“A little bit of car, a little bit of driver, just everything needs to click a bit more.
“We know how competitive this championship is. If you’re a tiny bit off, you’re a long way off.”
The Supercars season continues with the NTI Townsville 500 on July 10-12.
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