Bathurst 1000: Ford teams told they just need to improve by a Camaro contender

Parity continues to be an ongoing issue in the battle between the Chevrolet Camaro and Mustang, now the Erebus Motorsport chief has added fuel to the fire.

A pre-Bathurst parity stoush has erupted after Ford teams were told they “just need to do a better job” by a Camaro contender as the Blue Oval sweats on its proposed parity changes for the Bathurst 1000.

On the eve of Supercars’ biggest race on the calendar, debate over Mustang parity adjustments dominated discussion in the paddock on Wednesday less than 24 hours before cars were set to hit the track at Mount Panorama.

Parity has been an ongoing issue in the first year of the Gen3 era in the battle between the Chevrolet Camaro and the Mustang.

Talks regarding Ford‘s proposed parity changes for Bathurst were ongoing on Wednesday evening, with no immediate resolution in sight.

Ford has been pushing for aerodynamic tweaks aimed at rebalancing the downforce of the Mustang ahead of Bathurst, but their proposed changes have been met with resistance from the Chevrolet camp given the official “parity trigger” has not been hit.

One Ford team boss said the Blue Oval squads remained in a “holding pattern” but had all the parts ready to fit to the cars if the proposed changes were given the green light.

The parity dispute has been a big talking point in Supercars this season. Picture: Getty Images

But GM teams have argued against the changes, with Erebus Motorsport chief Barry Ryan, whose Camaro squad leads the championship, suggesting their rivals were pushing for change based on “sporting parity and not technical parity”, which Supercars is based on.

“The trigger hasn’t been hit, it’s as simple as that,” Ryan said.

“We have rules for a reason. If we want to turn it into that sort of a category then we will not be here because we are not interested. That’s BoP (Balance of Performance), that’s what they do with GT Racing.

“You have just got to do a better job in a lot of areas.

“I don’t want to be discrediting anyone, but Red Bull and us have done a really good job this year and I don’t see anybody else as being that consistent.”

The absence of a parity trigger presents a significant obstacle to Ford’s push and, with GM opposition, their proposal would need the Supercars Board to exercise its discretion to get its changes over the line.

Erebus Motorsport team boss Barry Ryan (middle) argues with Mark Winterbottom (left) last year. Picture: Fox Sports

Plans for a morning meeting on Wednesday between Supercars officials and all participating teams were cancelled, setting the stage for a day of negotiations at Mount Panorama.

Meetings between Supercars senior management, board members and both the Ford and Chevrolet camps were ongoing throughout the day, but a resolution had not yet been found the night before opening practice.

Ford teams were granted aerodynamic changes to the Mustangs for the round in Townsville after the parity trigger was met the previous round in Darwin, sparking an official Supercars parity review, which has not occurred on this occasion.

KOSTECKI SETS SIGHTS ON ULTIMATE DOUBLE PRIZE

Series leader Brodie Kostecki has his sights set on the Bathurst 1000 and championship double as his Erebus Motorsport boss revealed the team’s victory target in its fierce title fight with rivals Triple Eight.

Not content with claiming one or the other of the sport’s two big prizes – a Mount Panorama crown or drivers’ championship this year – Kostecki declared he would be going all out to win both.

Kostecki sits in a comfortable position in the championship heading into this weekend’s Bathurst 1000, holding a 155-point lead over defending Supercars champion and Triple Eight rival Shane van Gisbergen.

The 25-year-old has more race wins than any other driver this year – six – and is coming off a second-place finish with co-driver David Russell at the Sandown 500.

While he is determined to claim both crowns, Kostecki said he would not be racing with the championship front of mind at Mount Panorama this weekend.

“I’m not going to pick (either one), I’m going to try to do both,” Kostecki said.

Brodie Kostecki wants the ultimate double prize in Supercars.

“I don’t worry too much about the championship, that will take care of itself if you are getting results. So my main goal is to win races and the rest of it will look after itself.

“Results at the end of the day are what gets you a championship. So I’m just going to try and win as many races as I can and this is one of the biggest races in the world so it’s on my bucket list to win.

“We just have to keep our head down and focus on what we have been doing …. we have had some really good momentum lately so it would be good to keep it up.”

Kostecki has finished third and fourth at Bathurst the past two years, but conceded it was a different position to be in entering the biggest race of the year as one of the hot favourites.

“We have got a lot of weight on our shoulders, Erebus has never been in this sort of situation before,” Kostecki said.

“But we have really hit our stride the last few weeks.

“To be still leading the championship and coming to Bathurst as one of the favourites is pretty cool.”

Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan said the team had a target to finish more than 150 points clear of rivals Triple Eight in the championship this year, but would not be playing it safe at Bathurst.

Kostecki has been the No.1 driver this season. Picture: Getty Images

“(Kostecki) is definitely not going to be holding back, we just want to win this race,” Ryan said.

“It’s a nice little buffer and we would really like to come out of here (Bathurst) 150 points ahead.

“For a few reasons – then there are only four races (left) – 150 points a race – and we can afford to have a mishap in one of those four races.

“And we would love to finish the year (that far in front so) Red Bull can’t say if they didn’t get penalised in Newcastle (disqualified in race one) they would have won the championship.

“To beat Shane by 150 points, or Broc (Feeney), that’s how we want to finish the year.”

Ryan said securing the championship – both drivers’ and teams – this year was his top priority for the squad.

Erebus has two drivers in the top four with Will Brown, who will join Triple Eight next year as the NASCAR bound van Gisbergen’s replacement, sitting fourth.

Brock Feeney and Kostecki ahead of the 2023 Bathurst 1000. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We have won Bathurst (in 2017), so winning the championship now, that’s a big box to tick,” Ryan said.

“Then we can worry about how many Bathursts we win compared to championships.

“The teams championship is probably just as important as the drivers’ championship. We want to win them all this year.

“All four drivers are in a good space, the team is in a great head space.”

Originally published as Bathurst 1000: Ford teams told they just need to improve by a Camaro contender