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SUPERCARS PLOTTING NEXT-GEN CARS

Supercars plotting next-generation of cars - Photo: Supplied

By Bruce Williams

Supercars plotting next-generation of cars - Photo: Supplied

Supercars plotting next-generation of cars – Photo: Supplied

Plans for the next generation of Supercars will continue this year, with major changes coming as soon as next year.

By MARK FOGARTY

Supercars has been investigating the ‘Gen3’ evolution of the existing technical and eligibility rules since 2016.

Under new chief executive officer Sean Seamer, who took over at the start of last season, the timetable for change has accelerated.

Seamer renamed Gen3 as Next Generation and decreed that updates wouldn’t be held back until the New Generation/Gen2 rules expired at the end of 2021.

Technical working groups will be convened later this month to begin thrashing out easy rules changes that could be implemented as soon as 2020 and more substantial reforms for 2021.

Among the evolutions being considered is hybrid technology, adding electric on-demand assistance to the existing five-litre V8s.

AUTO ACTION exclusively revealed in May last year that Supercars was seriously looking at hybrid petrol-electric drivetrains in the near future.

Seamer subsequently confirmed that line of investigation, which has been future-proofed by the adoption from this year of a new Xtrac transaxle, which is designed to incorporate an electric motor generator.

He has confirmed that his mandate for change as soon as practicable is being enforced.

“As I’ve always said, if there are quick wins that we can implement, then we will,” Seamer told AUTO ACTION. “But it’s likely that given the lead times on development and for manufacturers – and we’ve all seen how long the process has been on the Mustang – the reality is that it’s 2020 at the earliest for some changes and 2021 for anything material (major reforms, like reducing roll cage height to accommodate the low-line Camaro shape).”

He revealed that work on the Next Generation rules would accelerate this year.

“We’ve done a lot of preparation work in 2018,” he said. “We’ve been gathering a lot of information, doing a lot of research analysis.

“We’re looking at the future of the automotive category, how do we maintain and improve relevance of the on-track product going forward? We have some working groups coming together in January, both from a team-owner point of view and also from an engineering point of view to start to map that out.”

Seamer is confident the combined brainpower of the Supercars fraternity will come up with exciting developments.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “We have such a smart group of people up and down pit lane, and here at Supercars. I’ve been impressed by a lot of the people I’ve met, like (WAU technical director) Carl Faux, Ludo (Lacroix, DJR Team Penske’s design genius) and (Triple Eight team manager) Mark Dutton.

“There are very, very sharp people up and down pit lane. And then you have the team owners and a really strong marketing team here that understand the automotive categories.

“We have all the ingredients; it’s about pulling it together and putting a stake in the ground, and working towards it.”

Seamer also acknowledged the key role new head of motor sport Adrian Burgess – former championship- and race-winning team chief of DJR, Triple Eight, HRT and Tekno – will play in Supercars’ technical evolution.

“He brings, obviously, a team’s perspective, but also 30 years of experience in international motor sport,” he said. “Adrian’s been great in the short time we’ve had him.”

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