The on-track performance of the Camaros triggered a parity review after Taupo, leading to aerodynamic adjustments being implemented for the following weekend’s event at Christchurch.
Those changes consisted of a reduction to the leading edge of the front splitter, a relocation of the rear wing rearward and upwards, and a reduction of the rear wing angle.
They were made in the name of shifting the aero balance of the Camaro rearward to match its rivals, without changing its overall downforce level.
The tweaks raised eyebrows as they took place just nine races into the season and followed another million-dollar trek to the Windshear wind tunnel in the US over summer.
Supercars did not sign off on the revised specification until the Thursday evening in Christchurch after debate over the package proposed by General Motors.
It’s believed GM and its homologation squad Team 18 requested a lesser reduction to the rear wing and were ultimately dissatisfied with the outcome.
Supercars new-for-2026 parity review system works on a rolling six-race calculation, which is reset after an investigation takes place.
However, the rules state Supercars may, in consultation with the relevant HT, “reverse, revise or modify” any adjustment within two events of its implementation.
Chevrolet’s Christchurch change was unusual in that it was finalised in the middle of the back-to-back New Zealand weekends, preventing a chance to track test.
That meant relying on Computational Fluid Dynamics and data already banked in the wind tunnel.
Supercars and Melbourne-based Team 18 are expected to run through various aero configurations at QR today, with Anton De Pasquale set to pilot the team’s spare Camaro.
Team 18’s race cars returned to their Mount Waverley workshop on Monday after being sea freighted back from New Zealand with the remainder of the Supercars fleet.
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