Shell V-Power Racing Team Principal Ben Croke has described the collaboration between Supercars teams on Gen3 as “unprecedented”.
Through the production phase of the new formula, rival teams have been working together to share and streamline the production of control parts.
Gen3 has been labelled as the biggest generational change in the history of Supercars, with the design of almost all the componentry being a case of starting from scratch.
To limit financial pressure and time constraints, teams have taken on a formal approach to sharing production as short-term control supplier roles to help stock the field of parts.
The most significant collaboration on the project has been between the two homologation teams — who are also powerhouse rivals — Triple Eight Race Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing.
Croke was joined on the latest KTM Summer Grill episode by Jeromy Moore, Technical Director at Triple Eight, where they shed light on how the two organisations have worked together.
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“At times the competitiveness still comes through, [but there has been] collaboration from the design to the prototypes and all that,” said Croke.
“Even to the point, we had Jeromy and representatives from Triple Eight in our workshop looking at certain ways that we had done it.
“Then we would have representatives go up to their workshop and check out the differences between the two prototypes that people had done.
“It’s unprecedented.
“Then the Gen3 committee which was made up of other team representatives that steered other chassis parts and steering and brakes and all that sort of stuff.
“Definitely a real voice of the teams, but I think the main collaboration in the first part of the design and parts was between Triple Eight and ourselves more so.”
What cannot be swept under the rug is the labour that has also gone into Gen3, from Triple Eight, DJR, and Supercars’ technical team.
While Triple Eight led the chassis design work for Supercars, DJR had to fabricate body panels for the Mustang prototype twice with the release of the S650 toward the end of 2022.
Moore confessed: “Hours wise, I’d say myself, 6,500 hours over the last two and a half years and also with two other guys in our shop probably 10,000 total.
“And that’s only Triple Eight side of things let alone DJR side of things — doing all the bodywork twice.
“It has been a lot of work behind the scenes, and that’s not including any testing or development or the engine development side of things.”
CLICK HERE to watch the full KTM Summer Grill episode featuring Moore and Croke.
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