Prototype Gen3 Camaro testing at Queensland Raceway in January 2023
When you read some of the stories and subsequent comments about the 10-day delay for Supercar team Gen3 rollouts, you’d think it was the end of the world.
It is not.
First and foremost, a team of any kind is accustomed to working with its back against the wall. It’s not ideal, it’s not what everyone plans to do, but it’s part of the process. Every company that has been around for a long time building and/or repairing cars has experienced a loss at some point in the past, either at the start of the season or during the year. I don’t see any team currently running in the main Supercars series that isn’t capable of that, and most have proven their ability to get the job done many times over.
Delays in tracking may occur, as reported, due to late delivery of parts attributed to teams. Now, I’m not going to get into all the whys and whys as to reasons behind many of the delays, maybe that can wait for the Book. Let me just say that this point is nothing to drool over.
Many parts are required they are indeed, they are now sitting in the workshops of the teams, and have been for some time. But a racing car is a big jigsaw puzzle and most of it only comes together and can be finished with everyone the parts are at hand. And this is a flux, with some critical parts of other populations delaying adaptation.
Meanwhile, several parts continued to be validated on the two prototype cars, including the guns. So, while there will always be risk around the supply of a small percentage of parts in production cars (where the supplier goes from one-off manufacturing to full production, for example) the risk is not huge. Some teams are kind of involved innovators, and have some of the smartest people working with them. If there are significant issues with the Gen3 buttons, I’ll report them so I can explain the problems and work tirelessly to work on them for everyone’s benefit.
I have personally been in this pre-season situation many times over the past decade both in the UK and here in Australia, as have many others in the category. The stories are endless, but one that comes to mind is the start of the 1998 British Touring Car Championship in the Super Class Touring era.
We ordered the Arrows to GM Vectra from Pankl in Austria, one of the most reputable companies in the game. The lead time was 12 weeks so, due to the late-breaking project by us (manufacturers in any industry will continue the project and be faithful until the last moment, if left) the parts had to arrive. two days before the first test of the brand-new cars. They arrived on time but were too short by 25mm; it is entirely our fault as the designer’s error belongs, his last for the Triple Eight. But we had to do something as we couldn’t deliver new parts to Pankl until after the first race…
Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro Gen3 Supercars at the 2022 Adelaide 500
We did the arrow replacement between our machine shop and another local one in less than 48 hours which was far from optimal, and using substandard materials, but they kept us trying and then through the first class meeting. When I say our fingers are crossed all the way, you’ll know it’s a whole minute. But we got the job done.
These things happen and have happened to every top national team in the world at one time or another. So if the Gen3 shakedowns show more issues than would be ideal, I have no doubt that the best people’s heads will be there to overcome them and get the car to Newcastle in time.
At the same time, the lack of testing and preparation will make the first event very interesting, as I suspect. More luck in events than ideal, but it could also shine a light on opportunities for the risk-averse.
In 2012, the last year of Supercars Blueprint, he only won the FPR (now Tickford) and Triple Eight races. But in 2013, the first year in Car Future, eight different teams won at least one race. In the end, the cream will rise to the top, as it should. But perhaps there will be some changes in the mining order as some drivers get to grips with the cars faster than others or even simply turn out to be more competitive overall in the Gen3 car with substantially less impact than the previous cars.
For real fans (rather than the inevitable very negative keyboard warriors) I would like to suggest that we sit and ride through these next two months as time goes by, while also suffering no end to the suffering of the team. and many suppliers have been launched and, indeed, will continue to be launched in the first part of the season. He will have faith in all of them when he needs the first class in Newcastle.
Last week Roland’s opinion: Is there a chance for a cap in Supercars?