Supercars 2023: Gen 3 launch has Camaro ahead of Mustang according to drivers

Supercars will roll out all 25 Gen3 cars at a final testing day in Sydney on Wednesday, but drivers have revealed already one car has shown a speed advantage.

It’s the hot-button topic within the Supercars paddock that has teams and drivers divided ahead of the first all-in testing session at Sydney Motorsport Park on Wednesday.

By some stopwatches the Camaro is tracking up to eight-tenths faster than the Mustang and it has drivers, particularly those repping the blue badge, searching for answers with just over two weeks to go until the season opener in Newcastle.

One of the key goals of the Gen3 rollout was to bring the Supercars field closer together by minimising the differences in the cars, but the balance has yet to be struck.

And there are varying levels of confidence that the playing field will be level by the time cars hit the streets of Newcastle on March 10.

Drivers show the new cars at the 2023 Supercars Gen3 Season Launch, but testing has revealed one has a speed advantage. Picture: Supplied by Edge Photographics.

“There is a bit of frustration at the minute,” Grove Racing driver David Reynolds told News Corp.

“All of the drivers talk to each other away from the test day – we have a stopwatch and, well, it doesn’t lie.

“The Ford is a little behind the eight-ball at the moment; not a little, a lot, based on the times. Hopefully that doesn’t (remain true) come Newcastle.”

“I think they could have done more earlier to make sure it was 100 per cent (equal) but they are doing everything they can now to make sure the cars are perfect,” Tickford driver Cam Waters added.

“At the end of the day everyone wants it to be even, it doesn’t matter what side of the fence you’re on.

“It will be sorted.”

Tickford veteran James Courtney took part in a parity test with reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen last year and said the differences between the Chevrolet and Ford were noticeable.

“Both Shane and I swapped the cars and did green tyre runs on both and yeah, Supercars are trying to address the issues but it’s never going to be bang-on straight away,” he said.

“There’s always going to be a teething process. A lot of the time the computer data doesn’t correlate to the real-world situation.

“Hopefully we can roll into Newcastle with it being a lot closer.”

Drivers claim the Camaro is testing ahead of Mustang and is ‘noticeably different’. Picture: Supplied.

Fans will get their first glimpse of all 25 Supercars on-track in Sydney on Wednesday but for those hoping to get an early idea of the top teams and drivers, they could be left wanting.

With wet weather forecast, the rain could severely hamper the programs of teams hoping to roll through wholesale changes as they chase the perfect set-up before Newcastle.

Having to develop a new car on old tyres is another challenge that some drivers feel has made the Gen3 rollout more difficult than it needed to be.

Erebus Motorsport driver Brodie Kostecki said the team’s minimal tyre bank – held over from last season – meant it would likely run less laps than others on Wednesday.

Efficiency will be key.

“It’s a pretty brutal place on tyres and we don’t have many to burn laps on – I’ve heard the weather isn’t going to be great either, so we probably won’t get too many laps in anyway,” he said.

“It’s a bit disappointing in a way, having new cars and not being able to test properly (on new tyres). We qualify on new tyres and race on new tyres but we have to practice on the old ones, so it’s a bit of a waste of time in a way.

“I don’t have much to say on the parity scenario … I think parity has been with one side before and then the other side, it’s pretty hard to get right obviously.

“With all this talk … no one can claim they have less than the other when there’s no official timing or official rankings of cars out on the track with the same quality of tyre, fuel load etc. It’s hard to claim you don’t have something when you don’t know what others have.

“I have faith in Supercars that it will be sorted by Round 1.”

This time of year is often a cat-and-mouse game between teams, as they work to perfect their setups for the opening round without revealing their hand to rivals.

It adds just another layer of intrigue to Wednesday’s testing run, with “sandbagging” the ever-present buzzword.

“There will be plenty of sand falling out of cars tomorrow,” Kostecki said.

“I’m certain manufacturers will be getting together and telling people to hold up a little bit … tomorrow is a bit of a nothing day for that.

“The first round will be the first tell, when points are on the line and the championship starts, is when you’ll see crabs coming out of their holes.”

“I think for sure a lot of people will (sandbag),” Courtney added.

“But a lot of teams will be doing big, wholesale changes. They won’t necessarily be looking for speed, they’ll be looking for an understanding of how the car reacts to different changes.”

Gates at Sydney Motorsport Park open at 8am, with the on-track action to begin from 8.30am.

Originally published as Supercars 2023: Gen 3 launch has Camaro ahead of Mustang according to drivers