The transition of information related to Ford homologation team and engine supply duties is finally set to commence after a financial settlement between DJR and Ford.
DJR had been refusing to handover crucial intellectual property to Triple Eight until it negotiated a compensation payout from Ford over the loss of the engine business.
Triple Eight claims that withholding the information has been hampering preparation for its upcoming Ford switch as it looks to improve the Mustang package ahead of 2026.
Recent tensions between the teams included allegations a Ford engine purchased by Triple Eight from Grove Racing for evaluation purposes was being held ‘hostage’ by DJR.
The matter was swiftly resolved in the days following the most recent round in Darwin.
Asked by Speedcafe if Triple Eight can work with DJR given recent events, team manager Mark Dutton said: “From our side, yes.
“We’re not one to hold grudges or anything like that.
“It’s something that for us, they’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of good people, we want to work with them.”
Triple Eight has already been working with the remainder of the Ford teams to compile a ‘wishlist’ of improvements to the Ford package.
“It’s been really good,” Dutton added of working with the other Ford squads.
“Groves have been amazing, Tickford have been cool, Blanchards have been super helpful and the last piece of the puzzle coming across to work collaboratively certainly is a good thing.”
Dutton explained that having the relevant CAD files for the Gen3 Mustang and Ford engine will speed-up what was otherwise a laborious process.
In the absence of the CAD files, Triple Eight had borrowed a Blanchard Racing Team Mustang that it scanned and performed basic analysis on.
“The first stuff that we’re told we’ll get is the CAD data. That’s important because that’s how you build your car,” he said.
“If you want to make any changes, it’s much better to at least start with the current component design. You can scan and reverse engineer things, but that takes a lot of time.
“Getting the raw CAD means you spend your precious hours improving something, not modelling something that exists to then change it anyway.
“If this CAD transfer wasn’t to happen, we can survive without it. It’s just very inefficient and it just slows down any improvements coming to the Ford camp this year.”
Triple Eight will soon be in the unusual position of trying to improve the Ford package while still racing its Chevrolet Camaros.
“There’s been some engine failures lately for the Ford camp and we’d like to look at some of those ASAP,” he said.
“That means trying to implement some changes and improvements there this year. That is a balancing act, but it’s part of what we have to do to prepare for next year.
“We’re so limited in testing these days that if you can get an improvement straight away, then you’re helping your direct competitors this year, but for the greater good.
“We’re going to have to help the Mustang camp a lot more than the competitive side of you might want to.”
Once the information from DJR flows through, there will remain one missing piece; actual setup information and on-track data from the current Mustang race cars.
“You do have to close the circle with setup information, and I don’t think teams will necessarily be forthcoming with that, understandably so,” said Dutton.
“If you say your car is slow in a straightline, we can adjust the setup of these cars with ride heights and bits and bobs to affect the straightline speed.
“So without having the full picture, it’s not straightforward to determine where there might be pluses and minuses across the cars.”
Triple Eight recently declared plans to have its first Mustang on track within the coming months.
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