‘Safety concern’: Supercars urged to act on wheels

The two Ford Mustangs ended Saturday’s second sprint with wheel damage following interlocking between spokes during contact.

Both drivers reported steering or suspension damage as a result of the interlocking, with Kostecki labelling the issue a safety concern.

“Many drivers have said the wheels need to change for a long time,” he said.

“Chaz was missing two spokes and my wheel is missing three spokes and the whole wheel edge, so it becomes a bit of a safety concern.”

The Gen3 wheel design has been repeatedly blamed for interlocking incidents since the ruleset debuted at the beginning of 2023.

It’s widely known that the design was a ‘captain’s call’ from former Supercars CEO Sean Seamer based on aesthetics.

Mostert described the violent force felt in the car when the spokes interlock during battle.

“When you rub panels a little bit, you just feel like bumper cars when someone pushes you,” he explained.

“But when a wheel hits, my wheel kind of got snapped out of my hand at the same time, and my toe (suspension geometry) went all out in the front as well.

“It’s not great how the spokes are interlocking. I second what Brodie is saying, we need to look at trying to do something with that in the future.”

The obvious impediment to changing the wheel design is cost.

It’s estimated that each car in the category currently has a bank of around 40 wheels, priced at $1000 each. That amounts to a near $1million replacement cost across the category.

While the issue has been apparent at various stages throughout the last two seasons, it’s a bigger one now that Supercars is taking a more relaxed approach to driving standards.

Kostecki frustrated after bruising Mostert battle

Kostecki was left aggrieved after coming off second best in the battle with Mostert on Saturday, later doubling down on comments made directly after the race.

“I think we’re just racing sort of half-baked at the moment, in some cases,” elaborated Kostecki.

“The rules are still there, and we have people that just choose when to adjudicate them, or at least one person.

“It was front-to-rear [contact] and then it turned into a big tank slapper because I was trying to not spin out. And then we interlocked wheels…”