A cautious approach to parity changes was the right one by Supercars, according to Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Walkinshaw.
The Ford Mustangs rolled out with a revised aerodynamic package at the most recent event of the season, the NTI Townsville 500, following an official Supercars parity review post-Darwin.
Whether the changes have produced the desired effect remains to be seen, and more parity-related work was undertaken in the days after the North Queensland event.
However, as far as the Ford camp was concerned, something needed to be done after a Chevrolet romp in the opening five events of the first season of Gen3.
Nevertheless, Walkinshaw, co-owner of the former factory Holden Racing Team which switched to Ford in the off-season, has backed the approach which the category has taken.
He told Speedcafe, “I think it’s right to only make small adjustments, because I couldn’t think of anything worse than having had the first half of this season where it was the Camaro show, and then Supercars have gone and given us too much, and then all of a sudden, you have 10 Fords in in qualifying and the rest are Camaros.
“That would have just kept the same problem, just reversed around, so I think Supercars should be commended on being cautious and doing the right thing, but [also] doing it in a way which was pragmatic, using the data that was available to them, working with the CFD, to ensure that everything all lined up.
“We’ll see over the next few rounds if it was enough or if it was too little.”
While engine mapping, which is now controlled, has been tweaked three times on the Ford side this year, Townsville was the first occasion that the Gen3 Mustang has sported new aerodynamics in competition.
The idea, Speedcafe understands, was to maintain high-speed downforce levels but prevent a substantial loss under brakes, which had been caused by a stalling of airflow under the rear wing when the car pitched.
“Supercars did the right thing by following the procedures and going through the review process,” declared Walkinshaw.
“The review process was pretty clear on what they found out and Supercars have acted in the appropriate way that you’d expect them to based on how the process is outlined.
“We’re not going to know the true extent of the increase in performance from the aero adjustments until we go to a couple more tracks – we need to go to a big aero track, really, to really gauge what the increase is.
“So far, we’ve had to sort of start tuning the cars around that a little bit, because it has shifted the balance slightly, but it’s a very, very small aero adjustment.”
Just three days after the chequered flag fell on Race 17 in Townsville, Ford homologation team Dick Johnson Racing was back on-track at Queensland Raceway.
Strictly speaking, the activity was not ‘parity testing’ in so much that the formal parity review process had already been wrapped up.
Trackside observers noticed Anton De Pasquale, to use the Race 17 winner as an example, spinning the rear wheels of his DJR Shell V-Power Mustang exiting the final turn of the Reid Park Street Circuit during the weekend.
That would also hasten rear tyre wear, as would a lack of rear downforce, and hence there is hope that a change in throttle body, which would result in a new Ford Engine Specification Document, will bring the Mustang closer again to the Camaro.
Meanwhile, WAU is set to be among the teams set to undertake a test day at Winton tomorrow.
Additional reporting: Mark Fogarty
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