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Walkinshaw Andretti United is looking into a surprising failure of Nick Percat’s rear wing after he made minor contact with a wall in Practice 1 at the Vailo Adelaide 500.
Percat returned to the garage sans wing on the back of the #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang after a glance with the barriers at Turn 3 of the Adelaide Parklands Circuit.
However, the 2016 Adelaide 500 winner says he did not in fact hit the wing or the rear quarter-panel, leaving him unsure as to why exactly the former parted company.
“I had a touch with the wall through [Turn] 3 but somehow it’s peeled the rear wing off it,” he recounted on the television broadcast.
“So, we’re investigating that; if it’s the way the wings are made and stuff like that.
“It could be a bit of a learning [experience] for all the Ford teams or Supercars with this rear wing, because it actually hasn’t made contact with the rear wing, it hasn’t made contact with the rear quarter-panel, but somehow the mounting and all that has separated from the actual wing itself to the actual mounts of the car.
“So, better [to happen] now on Thursday than come the race, but we’ll get a new wing on it, give it a nice wipe, clean it up for tomorrow.”
The Mustangs have, of course, been sporting wider rear wings and their original mounts since the commencement of the Gold Coast 500 after an official parity review, although lack of damage on the rear quarter-panel raises questions as to how the drama occurred.
Nevertheless, it was a promising session for WAU, with Chaz Mostert fastest in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang and Percat sixth at 0.5941s off the pace despite missing some track time due to his wing issue.
The latter hailed the effect of the new-for-2023 wet tyre, which has given the drivers the ability to push earlier in damp conditions, even on what is still a relatively new surface.
“I think there was a bit of feedback from the Super2 boys that [the surface] had more grip than we kind of expected, because we’ve gone to new surfaces before like Tailem Bend when that was fresh and it was like ice,” he explained.
“But, obviously we’re on a bit of a softer wet now with this new car.
“Yeah, it’s probably the most confidence in a Supercar I’ve had in the wet out of the gate because normally the hard wet on a slippery track takes a few laps just to build in, but these new wets seem pretty speedy.
“It was good, just kind of cruised around and did our things, and obviously the car’s fast; Chaz is quickest and I’m somewhere thereabouts until we had to pull out early.”
