SUPERCARS GEN3 AERO PARITY TESTING STARTS
Supercars Championship Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess is extremely confident of technical Gen3 parity following a ‘mini VCAT’ test at Wellcamp airport in Toowoomba over the last couple of days.
Vehicle Control Aerodynamic Testing (VCAT), sees both Gen3 machines tested on a runway for aerodynamic performance and drag.
Porsche Carrera Cup drivers Bayley Hall and Harri Jones jumped behind the wheel of the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang.
It is a test that has been performed over many generations of Supercars, and although it is not the final VCAT test Burgess is very pleased with what he has seen so far.
“What we what we try and achieve is the same front downforce, the same rear downforce, the same total downforce and the same drag,” Burgess said.
“The last VCAT, we had all of those metrics within two kilos, which is the target here this this week.
“At the end of the process we leave the VCAT where we know we’ve got the aerodynamic performance and drag performance of both cars paritised to within one or two kilos.
“In real racing terms (two kilos) is a very small number and wouldn’t have any effect on the racing.
“We do that through a variety of different configurations of the car, we will also run the car, through – I think the last VCAT we chose nine different ride height combinations.”
Both the Ford Mustang and the Gen3 Camaro were tested
Burgess described this week’s testing as a dress rehearsal, with the proper VCAT test to come later in the year.
He explained the process and why he is so pleased with the numbers and results he has seen so far.
“This is our mini VCAT, is what we’re calling a pre VCAT, it’s not the actual VCAT, that will be later on in the year, but we’re here just refreshing ourselves with our processes, all of our software, all the calculations that are used,” he said.
“To get my guys back into that headspace, into that mentality of what we’re doing. Sharing our data back to the UK, those guys are supporting us in real time.
“They’re up in the UK in the middle of night, checking through the data, making sure all these workbooks and all the calculations are precise and accurate, so it’s a good test for everyone just to get us back in that mode.”
He explained how transparent all the information has been and why he is so confident of close racing from 2023 when the Gen3 machines hit the track in anger.
“The two homologation teams have been great, they’re open and transparent,” Burgess continued.
“Every single run the car does, there are Supercar people on that car, so we know every single change that happens that is all lined up with the data.
“Everyone’s working harmoniously and this is really all in preparation for the official VCAT which will be later in the year. It’s been a good couple of days.
“Our series is built on technical parity.
“We don’t want to govern sporting parity. We can’t, if a driver on engineer or team is doing a better job than the next guy, then they deserve to win.
“But everybody needs to be given the same piece of equipment and have the same ability and the same opportunity and Gen3 is going to deliver that.
“We’ve got everything controlled with his car, so as long as Supercars gets the aero parity and the engine parity right, which I know we will – we’ve shown we can – everybody will have the same widget
“That guy who is 24th on the grid, they have need to have a good hard chat with themselves because they will have exactly the same car and exactly the same opportunity as the guy who’s on pole.
“That’s the process we’re working through. That’s what we’re going to deliver to the pit lane.”
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