Meetings over Ford’s proposed parity changes have continued throughout the day and are unlikely to let up yet, as night falls on the eve of opening Bathurst 1000 practice.
While a meeting between Supercars and all teams which was to be held this morning was cancelled, as first reported by Speedcafe, a series of talks have taken place throughout set-up day at Mount Panorama.
There is still no resolution, despite being cars due on-track for Practice 1 tomorrow afternoon at 13:20 local time/AEDT.
That can be taken as a sure sign that the Ford camp has not given up on receiving approval for bodywork tweaks which would shift the downforce balance of the Mustang back.
However, the longer the saga drags on, the less likely it appears that they will get their wish.
The lack of a parity trigger this time around is the major obstacle to the changes.
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The Supercars Operations Manual affords ‘discretion’ on the part of the Supercars Board to order a parity review and then approve changes, per Rule A1.4.6, which Ford and its teams are understood to be relying upon.
Nevertheless, there are also claims that the terms of the Teams Racing Charter (TRC) require that 75 percent of TRC holders vote to approve such a change in the case that a review was not ‘triggered’.
It is understood that point remains contentious, with some stakeholders of the view that it is in fact applicable only to in-season sporting regulation changes.
If it is indeed a hurdle which must be cleared for the parity changes to go through, then Ford’s hopes would seem dashed.
With 11 full-time Mustang entries in what is ordinarily a 25-car field, Ford teams account for only 44 percent of TRC holders.
They would need Chevrolet competitors representing eight cars to ‘cross the floor’, meaning three to four team owners would have to be swayed.
Speedcafe has been told that, with Triple Eight Race Engineering objecting and it being the General Motors homologation team, the rest of the Chevrolet teams would also object.
In the meantime, Ford teams have the new parts ready and are capable of installing them at the track, if given the green light to do so.
The toing and froing over whether that green light is forthcoming continues.
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