Should Super2 adopt the newer platform in 2027 or 2028? There is plenty at stake, with Supercars risking alienating the standalone Super2 squads should it get the transition wrong.
A meeting of team representatives held in the lead-up to the recent Ipswich Super440 revealed a distinct divide, largely between main game squads and Super2-only outfits.
Triple Eight and Brad Jones Racing – which run multi-car teams across the two Supercars tiers – made it clear they want to see Super2 make the leap in 2027.
That argument is underpinned by a desire to filter down their current machinery. Both teams are switching marques in the main game next year and will have excess cars and parts to utilise.
Other top tier squads are known to have signalled interest in entering Super2 – or expanding their current involvement – when the Gen3 rules are implemented.
The counter from the standalone Super2 squads is the chance to get an extra year out of their current Gen2 ZB Commodores and Ford Mustangs, which only joined the field in 2023.
Changeover costs are significant. New Gen3 cars are quoted at roughly $750,000, and that’s just the beginning before everything from engines to wheel nuts are tallied.
Running costs were a major talking point at the Ipswich meeting as they are somewhat of an unknown for standalone Super2 teams that have not run Gen3 cars before.
While the Gen3 engines deliver savings in upfront and rebuild costs, other factors – including more expensive bodywork – are said to as good as cancel out those benefits.
Perhaps the biggest argument for delaying until 2028 is to give Supercars an extra year to iron out various costly elements of the Gen3 cars before the Super2 teams invest.
That includes the much-maligned wheels that interlock during contact, as well as other less visible areas regarding maintenance and areas of unnecessary technical complexity.
Whether there will be enough Gen3 cars in circulation by 2027 has also been questioned.
Interestingly, there have already been roughly the same number of Gen3 cars built to date as there were Car of the Future cars at the time they were moved into Super2 in 2016.
However, that changeover – which came just three years after COTF debuted in the top tier – had new and old machinery sharing the Super2 grid.
The Gen3 change will almost certainly be a complete shift for the whole field, as the superior speed of the Gen2 cars would be problematic if run as a subclass.
Among other factors to consider is what’s best for the young drivers that Super2 is supposed to foster on their way to the Supercars Championship.
The distinct differences between the grip levels of the Gen2 and Gen3 machines mean Super2 has never been less relevant to the main game.
Major disparity in the performance of Gen2 cars built by various teams due to the more open ruleset also works against Super2’s philosophy of showcasing talent.
The Gen3 Super2 debate will next head to the Supercars Commission, which includes representatives from all main game teams, before the Board makes a final call.
Above all, teams need clarity on what Super2’s future looks like so they can plan accordingly.
This week’s Pirtek Poll wants to know what you think Supercars should do. Should it delay Gen3’s introduction to Super2 until 2028? Or push ahead with 2027?
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