Supercars remains set on having all teams test Gen3 cars for the first time in December ahead of the formula’s introduction next year.
November has become a key target to secure all the parts needed to complete the Gen3 builds, amid an already tight timeline for chassis makers and teams.
That is to avoid a stalemate over the Christmas and New Year period, which was recently explained by Matt Stone.
It is also critical to meet the hope of having at least one car from every team on track testing in December, thus giving sufficient lead-in time to the season-opening round in Newcastle from March 10-12.
Supercars teams are reportedly working together to share and streamline the production of control parts.
Different organisations have tasked themselves with building enough of a part, or parts, helping to stock the field and curb the delays.
Secure your spot today.
Asked by Speedcafe.com whether the potential for teams to be testing in December is slipping away, Supercars’ Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess replied: “No.
“We’re still aiming to run in December; we’ve got tracks booked for a couple of days.
“We’ve made a decision that we will make a final call in November, whether we can run in December.
“If we don’t have the parts here, then we can’t run, but we’re all pushing collectively throughout the whole paddock, all teams, and Supercars to try and run in December.
“The two prototypes have run really well — I don’t want to say faultlessly, because there are always things that happen — they’ve been reliable.
“When you productionise a car from being a prototype to a production car, things can slip in… software, whatever it may be that can stop a car from running.
“So we want to run as soon as we can and just make sure that the production version is reliable and ticks all the boxes as the prototypes have — we want to run at the earliest convenience.
“There are so many things out of our control; we’ve got bits being made all around the world.
“It sounds like a broken record. Freight may have us over, something may have us over.”
Amid having to complete the Gen3 builds, the field is also juggling the ongoing 2022 season with the final two rounds both being street circuits.
There is a gap in the calendar in November between the Gold Coast (October 28-30) and Adelaide, however, a crash at the Queensland event could potentially be a setback.
“We’ve come off the back of huge events in New Zealand and [Bathurst], and then we’ve got Gold Coast, we’ve got Adelaide — the schedule is punishing for the teams,” added Burgess.
“To physically screw [the Gen3 cars] together as well as doing a normal race programme is a big ask.
“We want to run in December if we can, if we don’t, it’s not the end of our world.
“The world isn’t going to stop rotating on its axis — we’ll all be fine, and we’ll be racing next year in Newcastle.”
Discussion about this post