The Brisbane squad is currently in the process of handing over its GM homologation team duties to Team 18 ahead of its 2026 switch to Ford Mustangs.
Team 18 is expected to take on the HT responsibilities from July to avoid a conflict of interest for Triple Eight considering its impending defection.
In addition to homologating any new cars, the HT is responsible for working through ongoing tweaks to minor elements of the package, be they for performance, durability or cost.
The HT is essentially a conduit between all the teams running a model of car and Supercars.
“We’ll still be giving feedback because if we think something’s wrong or needs adjusting that is an issue on the car, we’ve still got a championship to fight for this year,” Dutton told Speedcafe.
“Just because July is when they’re supposed to take over the reins, that doesn’t mean you stop on the process of being involved in comms, whether it’s engine or suspension or bodywork.
“It will be [Team 18’s] responsibility, but we’ll still be in there, just like other teams currently give us feedback. We work with every other GM team.”
Dutton said the HT handover process is a complex one for both the outgoing and incoming teams, but a responsibility that Triple Eight is taking seriously.
“It’s not a small process. It’s not like saying ‘copy all this CAD here onto a stick and you’ve got it’,” he said.
“You could do that but it’s a lot more involved than that because when you’re developing cars and doing things, inevitably some of the models aren’t what you’d call totally clean.
“OK, you’re developing something for the front suspension, you might have a couple of variations in those assemblies, you go in and delete all the redundant things.
“All that sounds simple, but it takes weeks and months. But we will do that, obviously, because you want to give clean models to the new HT.”
Triple Eight is already experiencing the other side of the handover too, as it prepares to take over the Ford HT duties from Dick Johnson Racing.
The Red Bull Ampol squad is analysing supplied information as it weighs up whether or not to push to re-homologate the Mustang body next year, utilising the Dark Horse model.
“We’re in the process of getting data and that kind of stuff,” Dutton said of the Ford situation.
“Getting data, getting CAD, it doesn’t tell you the answer, you have to deep-dive into it to go, OK, strengths, weaknesses, this that and the other.
“And you’ve got to do it on top of the day job competing in this category. The process has begun but there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to be done.”
Supercars will already be homologating one new car at the end of this season, with Walkinshaw Andretti United leading the Toyota Supra’s entry into the championship.
The Supercars Championship continues this weekend with the Tasmania Super440 at Symmons Plains.
Discussion about this post