There was some hope heading to Darwin that recent changes to Ford engine package, aimed at improving the performance of the Coyote V8 in hotter conditions, would help break the Chevrolet stranglehold at Hidden Valley.
Today’s two practice sessions, however, have exposed a worrying trend with speedy Mustangs few and far between.
Wood was the beacon of hope for the Blue Oval, topping the first session and finishing second to Andre Heimgartner in the other.
However, in Practice 1 he was one of just three Mustangs in the top 10 (Brodie Kostecki in seventh and Cam Waters in ninth), and in Practice 2 one of two Fords in the 10 (Waters in sixth).
Wood admitted he needed a tow from Will Brown to end up near the front in the second session, before predicting that Ford’s straight line woes in Darwin are not over.
“There were two Fords in the top 10 then; I think we still have the same issues,” he said.
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“I was just saying before, we’re one of the slowest in a straight line. I don’t know, if I don’t get a tow tomorrow I don’t think I’ll be good enough [for the front row].
“It’s definitely something that still plays on a lot of the Ford teams’ minds. And I think it’s the characteristics of this track to a certain degree, getting off the last corner.
“Our cars seem to flow a lot more speed across the face, and their cars stop and start a lot better. We need to try and make sure our car does that well tomorrow so we can stay up the front.
“All of the teams have to dig deep, but I think this is one of our hardest tracks.”
Ford engine performance has been one of the bugbears of the Gen3 era, with the temperature issue raised ahead of the Tasmania Super440.
That led to changes to both engine packages, while more changes – following testing at Queensland Raceway – were made to the Ford before the Perth Super440.
When asked if there was any sense of equalisation between the motors with the recent changes, Wood continued: “Look, I haven’t been around long enough to know enough about all that stuff.
“I just know that when I’m behind certain cars that I don’t tow up to them as easily as I do to others. And that’s just the way it is.
“And I’m sure we have advantages at other tracks like Sydney, Taupo… it sort of levels itself out across the year.
“But I still think that when we come here, we definitely don’t have the straight line that’s necessary. I think that’s something to do with the heat, not just the engine itself.
“We’ll see what we can do, but it’s just one of those things that you’ve got to battle on with.”
Earlier today, before track running had commenced, there was optimism regarding the Ford engine changes from David Noble, CEO of current Ford homologation team Dick Johnson Racing.
“All the indicators for us are that it should be better,” he said.
“Ford has had eight wins and nine poles [this season] at the moment, so it’s a good staple for us to get the Ford teams collectively back up in a competitive situation.
“Our expectation, from what I’ve been told, based off the engine temperature sweeps that have been done, the engine should perform better.
“Then it’s up to the teams to get the set-ups right.”
Qualifying will kick off in what should be cooler conditions at 8:35am local time tomorrow.
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