Reynolds believes Camaros are “in a different sport” than Mustangs

Grove Racing leader David Reynolds has not held back on the Gen3 Supercars parity debate, claiming Ford is fighting with “one arm tied behind its back”.

The parity storm between the new Gen3 Ford Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaro has been building throughout the off-season, but reached boiling point at Wednesday’s pre-season test.

The leaderboard painted a clear picture with 11 of the top 12 fastest cars all Camaros with Brad Jones Racing and Erebus Motorsport leading the way.

However, Brad Jones Racing was quick to play down its testing speed, suggesting Ford squads could have been sandbagging, with Newcastle to provide a better indicator.

David Reynolds driving his Ford Mustang at the Sydney test day on Wednesday. Image: EDGE Photographics/Mark Horsburgh

Grove Racing and Ford driver Reynolds was not afraid to speak his mind on the matter during an SEN radio interview after the test.

Speaking with former Supercars TV commentator Matt White, who was the voice of the sport for the best part of a decade from 2002-2014, the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner was certain it was not a level playing field at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Reynolds said the Chevrolets are currently “in a different sport” compared to the Fords.

“It is supposed to be a parity sport where everyone can win on their day, but as it stands we don’t have that at all,” he said on SEN, which was recently announced as Supercars’ new radio broadcaster.

“The Ford cars are six to eight tenths slower, which is literally a different sport and you may as well not compete.

“It is like you were to play a team in the NRL that is allowed to take drugs and you are not. 99% of the time the blokes taking the drugs are going to win. So we are fighting against another car with one arm tied behind our back.

“It is going to be a very difficult year.”

Reynolds finished the test day 19th, while Grove Racing emerged as the slowest of the 11 teams on show, being 1.7s off the pace.

David Reynolds sitting in his Gen3 Mustang. Image: EDGE Photographics/Mark Horsburgh

However, both Matt Payne and Garth Tander said they were pleased with Grove Racing’s direction.

But Reynolds has called on Supercars to bring the two new cars closer together with a pivotal straight-line evaluation test to be held next week.

“We went into the test day assuming they (Chevrolet) were a second faster, but Supercars gave us a bigger restricter so we could have a bit more engine speed,” he said.

“They also took a little bit of gear cut time out of the Camaro to slow them down the straights, but that only helped about two or three tenths of a second.

“They have two weeks to sort it out, otherwise it will be a pretty dismal year for us.”

Reynolds has been racing in Supercars since the 2007 Sandown 500 and has over 400 race starts next to his name.

Over that time he has witnessed many changes from the introduction of Car of the Future in 2013 to the arrival of the Holden ZB Commodore and Ford Mustang in consecutive years when parity arguments reached new heights.

Reynolds said only twice in his career have car changes “helped” him. The first was in 2015, his last year at Prodrive Racing (now Tickford), where he rose from 14th in 2014 to third after scoring two wins behind the wheel of the new Ford FG X Falcon.

David Reynolds leads the field at the start of the 2015 Bathurst 1000. Image: Daniel Kalisz/LAT Photographic

The other example Reynolds used was 2018 when he was at Erebus Motorsport driving the new ZB Commodore, which he used to collect three wins – his most in a single season.

But more often then not the seven-time race winner believes he has been on the “losing side” which he recalled as never an enjoyable experience.

“As long as I have been in the sport there has always been some sort of difference between the cars,” Reynolds said.

“It has only really helped me maybe twice in my life. That was 2015 when they built the Ford Flacon FGX and 2018 when they built the Holden Commodore ZB, every other time I have been on the losing side.

“It is not a fun time when there is a massive deficit.”

Reflecting on the positives of Gen3, Reynolds does love the look of the new cars and expects fans to see a lot more action with drivers battling to keep it on the black stuff.

David Reynolds gets some flames entering Turn 1 at Sydney Motorsport Park. Image: Supplied

“It is a completely new car we are getting the hang of and it is really cool for the sport,” he said.

“When you look at the cars they are so much better. They look much lower and wider and sound amazing. 

“They sound way better than last year’s cars, but are not the funnest things to drive. They have wound back the clock 20 years on the aerodynamics.

“When we turn into a corner, the car is moving around in the rear and almost wants to spin you out of control.

“During the race I assume there will be a lot more mistakes by the drivers, so it will be a much better spectacle.”

Parity will be one of the hottest topics when the 2023 Supercars season begins at Newcastle on March 10-12.

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