Red Bull Racing admit they have lots of work to do to catch Mustang after Supercars humbling

Red Bull Racing boss Roland Dane isn’t hitting the panic button just yet, but he admits there’s plenty of improvement required to catch Mustang’s flying start to the Supercars season.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 03: (EDITORS NOTE: A polarizing filter was used for this image.) Shane van Gisbergen drives the #97 Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore ZB and Scott McLaughlin drives the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang compete at the start of race 2 for the Adelaide 500 Supercars Championship Round at Adelaide Parklands Circuit on March 3, 2019 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Red Bull Holden Racing Team boss Roland Dane has conceded his cars have got a “fair margin” to make up after watching the Mustang make a flying start to the Supercars season.

As DJR Team Penske star Scott McLaughlin star completed a perfect weekend for the new Ford machine with his second race win at the Adelaide 500 on Sunday, Dane said he would reserve judgment on the parity of the cars after he had analysed all the race data.

Triple Eight Racing finished the opening race of the season with three podiums — Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen were second and third on Saturday and van Gisbergen was third behind defending Supercars champion McLaughlin and Cameron Waters in race two, while Whincup was seventh.

Cameron Waters, Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen celebrate on the podium. Picture: AAP

This time last year, it was the Red Bull Holden Racing Team celebrating van Gisbergen’s back-to-back wins for the second year in a row.

Dane admitted the Commodore ZB didn’t have the pace at the moment to match the new Mustang, which also started on pole in both races in Adelaide, and had some work ahead to catch up.

“We did the same last year (winning both races) and everyone spent the next two weeks pissing and moaning about it,’’ Dane said.

“This year we did what we could. We were the best of the Holdens, but the Ford at the moment is quicker than us. We have got some work to do.

“There is a fair margin (to make up). The only reason that there weren’t more Fords at the front is because they trod on their foot.

Neck and neck... Shane van Gisbergen (L) drives for Red Bull Holden, while Scott McLaughlin is in the Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang. Picture: Getty

“(Chaz) Mostert and (Fabian) Coulthard in particular could have been up there and they had a messy day, so we have got to be conscious of that.

“We maximised where we are, we are leading the teams championship and we’ll take that at the moment in the first event of the year.’’

Triple Eight was beaten to last year’s championship as McLaughlin edged out van Gisbergen for the title, but all the hype since has been about the debut of the Mustang in 2019.

Asked if he was content with the parity between the cars, Dane said he would wait to make an assessment.

“Let’s wait and see when we’ve looked at all the data properly,” Dane said.

Dane doubted the team would be able to make up enough ground before the next round at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in two weeks.

“I doubt it, I think it will be a bit of an ongoing situation,’’ Dane said.

“I’m not happy unless we win, but we will always take podiums, especially on a hot day like yesterday and again today it wasn’t exactly cold and the cars are in one piece, so we’ll take it.’’

Originally published as Red Bull Racing admit they have lots of work to do to catch Mustang after Supercars humbling