SUPERCARS GEN3 CAMARO DEAL TO BE CONFIRMED AT BATHURST

The Gen3 Camaro will appear at Bathurst – Image: Tim Pattinson Race Design

Supercars is expected to announce at Bathurst this week it will build a Chevrolet Camaro prototype to the Gen3 rules.

By AUTO ACTION STAFF

The decision to build the prototype follows on from crucial intellectual property permissions for the project being granted by General Motors.

But behind the scenes, a conflict is brewing over who will have control of the production version of a Camaro Supercar.

Triple Eight Race Engineering boss Roland Dane is understood to be at the heart of it.

On the category’s biggest weekend of the year that will include the final appearance of the Holden factory on the grid, Supercars’ Camaro announcement is a logical look to the future.

While Commodore will race on in 2021, Gen3 is due in 2022 and it is imperative a new car be developed to rival the Ford Mustang.

Supercars itself will take responsibility for building the Camaro prototype, likely in co-operation with consultant Craig Haysted and Paul Ceprenich’s Pace Innovations.

Ceprenich’s involvement would make sense. Back when Car of the Future was being developed, Pace Innovations built a Ford Falcon FG to the new CoTF regulations which was used for extensive testing prior to the category’s 2013 debut.

While the prototype’s construction path is clear, the fate of a production-ised version of a Camaro Supercar is currently the subject of conflicts amongst the category’s most influential players.

Triple Eight has been at the heart of the Gen3 project. Technical director Jeromy Moore is a key player in developing the new concept, which is designed to cut build, running and repair costs and provide better racing, in part through vastly reduced downforce.

COVID restrictions have meant Triple Eight has been even more important in the process than originally anticipated, as Walkinshaw Andretti United lead engineer Carl Faux, who Supercars was using as a consultant on the project has been unable to be as hands-on as envisaged.

Triple Eight is now understood to be making a play to be the production source for the Camaro, in an even more significant way than it has been as homologation team for the Commodore ZB.

In adapting the last Commodore to the Gen2 ruleset and wheelbase, most panels were changed from the production size and because of OEM costs, made from composite materials.

Triple Eight became the sole source for these items, much to the aggravation of other Holden teams that have looked with envy at the multiple sourcing options available to Ford Mustang teams.

This time round, Dane is said to be planning for control over a greater percentage of parts production and is even said to be pushing for the right to sell the complete car in international markets. How lucrative that might be is unclear.

Auto Action understands Dane’s position has not only aggravated rivals but concerned Supercars itself.

Dane’s play – which he would argue is fair commercial compensation for the amount of money his business has sunk into the Gen3 project – is being opposed by other teams owners, who don’t want the Queensland team gaining a supply monopoly.

This fight is bound to play out behind the scenes in months to come.

The development of the Gen3 project is also understood to be creating angst in the Australian motor sport supply industry, as Supercars bypass distributors and goes direct to parts manufacturers.

Presumably this is an attempt to cut out the middleman and reduce parts costs, but it’s not going unnoticed or appreciated by suppliers.

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