Most squads appeared to grapple with the problem to some extent amid numerous theories as to the contributing factors.
There were genuine fears in the build-up to the race that some cars may shake themselves apart during the 1000km grind.
The Ford Mustangs seemed to suffer worse than the Chevrolet Camaros, although the Blue Oval was convinced that its hastily updated engines were not the cause.
Grove Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United were among those to battle the problem and acknowledged post-race that they’d been unable to resolve it.
“There was still definitely something there on both cars all weekend,” Grove team principal David Cauchi told Speedcafe.
“We changed a lot of componentry and nothing really moved the needle on it.
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“There does seem to be an inherent issue with the really high speeds, at 250 and above, which we do see at other circuits but obviously [at Bathurst] we go well beyond that.
“So no, we’re not really sure what’s actually causing it despite changing a lot of components.”
Theories on the cause included the engine installations, driveline components, aerodynamics/panels and wheels/tyres.
“When the drivers can’t pick exactly what it is, it’s a bit weird,” noted WAU team principal Carl Faux.
“I think the drivers got used to it. There’s nothing we can do about it, so we just had to get on with it.
“We still don’t fully understand it. We’re onto a different tyre at the next event and a completely different speed profile for the track. We’ll see if it’s there then.”
Cauchi affirmed the fears that the vibrations had the potential to cause a race-ending mechanical issue, as well as being of discomfort to the drivers.
“It’s a reliability concern when the cars are vibrating like that,” he said.
“It’s possible that something will vibrate loose eventually, something will crack and fail. Does it cost lap time? No, not really. But it’s still not something you want.”
Triple Eight also admitted to being unable to solve its vibration trouble, speculating a combination of factors – including tyres and panels – may have been the cause.
Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki complained of “double-vision” during his pole-winning Top 10 Shootout lap, which was blamed squarely on the tyres.
The team cycled through a range of tyres during the morning warm-up to assess the vibration levels of each.
Such a simple fix suggested that different teams were dealing with different issues.
“I feel like it was maybe more predominant on the Ford side,” added Cauchi. “[I think it was] a little bit model specific and a little bit Gen3 related as well.”
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