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Supercars make Mustang aero tweaks for Townsville

Supercars 2023: Hidden Valley

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: July 4, 2023

Supercars has revealed the Ford Mustang GT has received a parity adjustment ahead of this weekend’s Townsville 500.

After conducting a full-scale parity review, which was triggered after a fifth straight Chevrolet sweep in Darwin, changes to the specifications of the Ford Mustang Vehicle Specification Document have been made.

Much like in 2019 when Ford dominated the start of the season with its new Mustang, mid-season parity adjustments have been made to level the playing field after a dominant start to 2023 for Chevrolet.

Whilst Ford has received shift cuts and engine mapping changes across the first five rounds, these changes are the first bodywork modifications for Ford and centre around aerodynamics with tweaks to the Mustangs’ rear wing and boot spoiler.

They have been made in the hope of finding parity between the Gen3 spec Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Ford Mustang GT, which is yet to cross the line first in 2023.

During the Supercars parity review, head of motorsport Adrian Burgess facilitated a meeting between homologation teams Triple Eight Race Engineering (Chevrolet) and Dick Johnson Racing (Ford).

Will Davison

After Will Davison scored Ford’s fifth podium of 2023 in Darwin, aero changes to the rear of the Mustang have been made. Photo by Mark Horsburgh

It also included testing at Queensland Raceway and data between the two competing models was compared using a multi-lap overlay where a “minor difference in rear downforce and performance in the braking zone” was detected from the Mustang.

To address this, Supercars teamed up with D2H for further computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, which “revealed adjustments needed to be made to increase the rear downforce of the Mustang.”

As a result, the 11 Ford Mustangs on the grid will appear in Townsville with a modified rear wing.

The position, span and angle of the rear wing has been tweaked, while the size of the boot spoiler has also been increased.

Supercars CEO Shane Howard explained the arduous process and is excited to see the results in action at Townsville this weekend.

“Firstly, we would like to thank the Homologation Teams and D2H for their extensive work on this review,” he said.

“It required a considerable amount of man hours, expert analysis, and communication to work together to present these adjustments for approval.

“The review determined that parity had been established during Vehicle Control Aerodynamic Testing (VCAT) based on agreed-upon ride heights and a performance window.

“However, it was discovered that the actual performance window slightly varied under braking conditions.

“Therefore, the outlined adjustments aim to bring the aerodynamic performance of the two Supercars closer together.

“With these changes in place, Supercars is looking forward to racing at this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500.”

Photo by Mark Horsburgh

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

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