Modifications to Trans Am Series vehicles which were the subject of recent manufacturer bulletins will be legal for this weekend’s fourth round of the season at Queensland Raceway.
PBR Distributions, which imports TA2 race cars into Australia, has issued two bulletins in recent weeks, the first advising of the availability of a new ‘throttle pedal support plate’ and the latter, which is an update of the former, advising that the throttle pedal height may be adjusted by modifying throttle stops.
Questions had been raised as to whether or not those bulletins had regulatory value, given they came from PBR rather than Motorsport Australia stewards.
Motorsport Australia has now confirmed to Speedcafe that they indeed do, given the reference to the ‘original vehicle manufacturer’ in Article T2.1.1 of the series’ Technical Regulations:
T2.1 Modification
2.1.1 Each Automobile must remain unmodified, in compliance with all aspects of these Technical Regulations and identical in all respects to the production make/model as supplied by the original vehicle manufacturer. [Emphasis added]
Furthermore, procedure is that PBR technical bulletins are sent by PBR to Category Management and Motorsport Australia prior to release to competitors.
Installation of the throttle pedal support plate and adjustment of pedal heights will make it easier for drivers to heel-and-toe, whereas TA2 vehicles have been designed for the American habit of left-foot braking.
While competitors welcome initiatives to improve performance, reliability, and the spectacle of the category, there are concerns about whether there has been a truly level playing field in the Trans Am Series, including questions about whether or not GRM has raced with the aforementioned changes (or similar) before they were made legal for competition.
Those concerns have led to the withdrawal of Nash Morris, a race winner this year in the Supercheap Auto entry, from the Queensland Raceway round.
Entrant Paul Morris told Speedcafe, “I’m just not happy with the way it’s being run and, to me, the GRM cars have been shown to have favouritism.
“Until that’s come to a conclusion as to how they’re going to resolve that; I’ve got other choices.”
He added, “It’s not [a question of] whether it’s legal or not. I’m just not happy with the whole process and how it was handled.”
Morris junior will still be in action this weekend at the Shannons SpeedSeries, however, backing up in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge after winning on his debut in that competition, a fortnight earlier at Sydney Motorsport Park.
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