Supercars 2023: Key parity questions answered as Chevrolet teams react to investigation

As the parity debate flares again, Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup has called on his Ford rivals to detail exactly what their issues are so the problem can actually be fixed.

Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup has called out rivals Ford for the shifting goalposts with their parity concerns and lack of “ideas on the table” to solve the issue after the launch of an official Supercars review.

As Supercars parity debate raged on, Whincup said he fully supported the investigation into any potential imbalances between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang after triggers were hit in Darwin, saying the series needed to determine if the sport had a sporting or technical parity problem.

But Whincup reiterated any potential parity adjustment needed to be supported by testing and he would reject any “off-the-cuff change made to penalise the Camaros” which was not backed up by science.

The parity debate flared after another Chevrolet clean sweep at the Darwin Triple Crown, which continued Ford’s winless start to this year’s championship.

Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney at the Darwin Triple Crown. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

It prompted Ford team bosses to unite to call on Supercars to make a parity adjustment to allow the Gen3 Mustang to “compete on an even playing field”.

As the boss of the Chevrolet homologation team, Whincup said he was working with Ford and Supercars to determine if there was any disparity, but said the Mustang teams needed to settle on what the issue was.

“It’s not us versus them, I’m working with the Ford guys and the Supercars guys to try and eliminate this parity talk, but I will politely call them out in saying ‘What is it (the problem) guys?’,” Whincup said.

“Originally it was aero, then it moved to engine power, then it moved to engine driveability, now the talk last weekend was back to aerodynamics again, so what is it?

“So, what are you claiming isn’t right? It’s all fun and games. Hopefully they can back up their claims and say where they believe the deficiency is and in an ideal world come up with a solution on how to test to prove that’s the case.

“And if you can prove it then let’s do it …. if someone comes to us and says the Ford is deficient in a particular area then we will have absolutely no problems signing off on a change to that area and we hope we get the same respect back from the other side.”

Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup has supported the Supercars parity review, but says any changes have to be backed up by science. Picture: Tim Hunter.

While Whincup encouraged Supercars to do as much testing as necessary to analyse the differences between the Camaro and Mustang, he felt Ford could have brought more ideas to the table to get to help solve the issue.

“They have come to the press and said they don’t believe there is parity between the two cars and adjustments need to be made,” said Whincup, whose drivers Broc Feeney and Shane van Gisbergen sit third and fourth in the championship.

“But from what I can see, there has been no real urgency to bring ideas to the table.

“Like if they said ‘Hey, we need to bring both engines on a certain dyno or we need to take both cars and do another VCAT (test)’ .... none of that has come across my desk, which is quite strange.

“If I believed I was in the same position they believe they’re in, I would be finding what the problem is and going to Supercars and the other side, the Ford homologation team, and say ‘We need to do this testing to validate our car’. But that hasn’t been the case, which is the strange thing.”

Supercars will now work with both homologation teams – Triple Eight and Dick Johnson Racing (Ford) – to determine the recommendations for any potential parity adjustment to put forward to the Supercars Commission ahead of the next round in Townsville.

Whincup would not speculate whether he expected parity changes to be made, but said any changes needed to be backed up by the numbers.

Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

“What I’ve always said, I’m against balance of performance, I’m against someone just getting a free kick because they think there might be a problem, that’s not the way we operate. We operate on science and numbers,” the seven-time Supercars champion said.

“So we encourage the category to do as much testing as they can, the more the better to further analyse if the differences between the cars are sporting or technical.

“If there is just an off-the-cuff change made to penalise the Camaros then I would be 100 percent against that without any scientific facts just because it feels like it’s not right, that would be out of line and against the rules in my opinion.”

Erebus Motorsport chief executive Barry Ryan, whose drivers Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown sit first and second in the championship, agreed the series needed to find out if it had a technical or sporting parity issue “for the good of Supercars”.

“Any parity review is always welcome, all anyone wants is to ensure the data and processes used to make any parity decisions are clear for all to see,” Ryan said.
“Of course, if there ends up being a distinct advantage to any homologated car then 100 per cent there should be a change made.

“Our sport is built on technical parity, not sporting parity. In my opinion Gen3 has made all teams capable of being closer to the front of the grid as we see by the closeness of lap times and field spread.

“But for some reason the GM teams have been more consistent in their results. We definitely need to work out if we have a technical or a sporting parity issue for the good of Supercars.”