Ford is having a rough time in Australia’s V8 Supercars series. Its Gen3 Mustang has been dominated by its arch-rival the Chevy Camaro in all but two of the 23 races in the season so far.
In case you’re not familiar, the famous Australian series, V8 Supercars, isn’t like Formula 1. Teams generally have little leeway in what they can change about their vehicles. Ford has requested small alterations to its Mustang’s aerodynamics in order to better balance the performance between it and the Chevrolet, but series organizers aren’t budging. As a result, it’s allegedly considering dropping out of competition after 2024.
The report comes from the Australian publication Drive, which cites “senior Ford Australia sources” to substantiate the claim. Independent of verifying the publication’s sourcing, Ford Australia does at least seem very upset by the race organizer’s latest decision. In a statement, it noted that it was “disappointed by the ongoing lack of technical parity in the Supercars Championship.” Furthermore, it says its requests for data concerning the performance of the Camaro have been mostly ignored.
The small amount of information that has been provided, the automaker claims, proves its point. “Supercars computational fluid dynamics (CFD) partner D2H Group provided aerodynamic data of both cars to the homologation teams on August 24. This data clearly demonstrated that aerodynamic parity had not been achieved.”
On the eve of the legendary Bathurst 1000, Ford was told it would not be allowed to make any changes to its vehicle, even though it’s claimed they were not much more than alterations to the rear wing. This has not only upset the automaker but Australian fans of the Blue Oval as well.
The potential loss of Ford would be a crushing blow to the series. Currently, the Camaro and Mustang are the only two cars competing, operated by various teams. The Camaro is understood to be leaving the grid in a few years as the car itself has been discontinued. The early departure of the Mustang could make the situation even worse.
All of this being said, none of this is official outside of Ford’s lengthy statement, which basically spends a long time saying the company isn’t being treated fairly by race organizers and its lack of performance isn’t a result of poor engineering. In fact, this small unofficial tidbit could be intended as a way to nudge officials into offering balance of performance changes to make Ford’s Mustang more competitive. Whether it’s seriously intending to leave is unclear, as many race teams have threatened to ditch a series in the past on account of what they perceive to be unfair rules and regulations.
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