By Thomas Miles
Date posted: July 11, 2023
Despite a short turnaround between the Townsville and Sydney events, a busy and important period of Supercars testing awaits.
It arrives after a heavily publicised aero parity change was made to the Ford Mustangs prior to the Townsville 500.
The rear wing was moved forward by 20mm and lowered by a similar amount, while a small gurney flap was added to the trailing edge.
Although Anton De Pasqaule drove Ford to its first on track win of the Gen3 era and broke a 15-race drought, many racing with the Blue Oval remain “extremely frustrated”.
After five straight sprint rounds, this was brought into sharp focus at the longer 500km event.
Despite De Pasquale taking the chequered flag, only one other Mustang finished in the top 14.
After taking victory at Townsville, Dick Johnson Racing will be conducting Ford parity testing this weekend at Ipswich. Image: Mark Horsburgh
This was one day after Chaz Mostert was heavily critical, believing the Camaro’s greater care on the rubber meant his pursuit of victory was next to impossible despite being on 10-lap fresher rubber.
Down in Victoria, Tickford will also stage its own Gen3 test on Tuesday, July 18, which will be a critical time to gain a deeper insight into the aero changes.
Additional parity changes such as a move to a smaller throttle body to deal with issues around power delivery are anticipated to arrive prior to the Sydney Motorsport Park round.
Matt Payne in action driving the Grove Racing Mustang at Townsville. Image: Mark Horsburgh
“It is still extremely frustrating,” he said. 
“We think we’ve got a fast car over one lap, and the changes have made an impact, but the car still doesn’t look after the rear tyres.
“Overall the deterioration of the tyres was a problem for us. It’s just the race pace that is not there.
“There is some more testing on parity coming this week, so we’ve got to see what happens with that before we head to Sydney Motorsport Park.”
Zane Goddard and Craig Lowndes will be back behind the wheel testing the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro at Queensland Raceway. Image: Mark Horsburgh
The Supercheap Auto wildcard will return for its first test post Zane Goddard’s solo return at the Darwin Triple Crown.
Goddard finished 22nd, 21st and 24th in the three races behind the wheel of car #888, but finished 19th on the road in the latter only to be penalised for spinning Jack Smith.
The session will ramp up the team’s preparations for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduros where Craig Lowndes will return alongside Goddard.
Testing miles will be crucial ahead of the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30, which will be held on an aero sensitive track.
For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.
Auto Action, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.
Photo by Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images
Shane van Gisbergen went to Chicago to have some fun and a job interview. He had fun, won and aced the job interview. Andrew Clarke was there for the historic win, and Bruce Williams and Paul Gover dig into the significance of it all with Clarke.
Then we look Supercars and the parity war, what changes are coming? Then F1, which needs more changes than any Motorsport on the planet.
Listen on your podcast app of choice or here on the Auto Action RevLimiter podcast.
engineer sydney
Get the latest updates delivered directly to your inbox
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Whilst no official deal has been made, Shane van Gisbergen revealed his phone has been “running hot” since his famous NASCAR win. Van Gisbergen took America by storm by becoming […]
Broc Feeney topped a tentative opening Supercars practice at Darwin, with teams opting for plenty of time in the sheds to fine tune their set-ups ahead of P2. The first […]
Anton De Pasquale said it has taken ‘lots of hard work’ to bounce back from a tough start to 2023 and end Ford’s agonising wait for a maiden on-track win […]
All eyes were on the Ford Mustangs during Friday practice at the Townsville 500 after the pre-event aero modification by Supercars. The Gen3 parity debate took a new twist when […]
Auto Action is published by
ACTION MEDIA PARTNERS

Suite 4/ 156 Drummond St
Oakleigh 3166.

ABN 629 709 4459
PHONE 03 9563 2107
EMAIL [email protected]
ABN 62 976 094 459
www.autoaction.com.au
Facebook @autoactionmag
Twitter @Auto_Action
Instagram @autoactionmag
Online Shop
Bruce Williams
[email protected]
PHONE 0418 349 555
Caroline Garde
[email protected]

source