SUPERCARS has called an emergency meeting of its Technical Working Group as the category searches for the cause of fires that have struck two Gen3 cars at Albert Park.
James Courtney’s Tickford Racing Mustang burst into flames on the opening lap of this evening’s race, a day after a seemingly identical disaster befell Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Nick Percat.
WAU pointed to an electrical fault as the cause of yesterday’s issue, that theory believed to involve a sudden surge of current from a tyre pressure sensor mounted to the carbon fibre front wheel arch.
However, there remained behind-the-scenes uncertainty over exactly what took place and Supercars informed teams this afternoon that their investigation was ongoing.
A Supercars bulletin stated it did not believe Percat’s fire was caused by the tyre pressure monitoring system and reminded teams to ensure each car’s oil tank is set to the correct level and that the catch tank is drained regularly.
The second fire has now raised major alarm bells within the category, which is scheduled to race again on Sunday morning.
Leading figures from a range of teams, as well as representatives of Supercars and Ford, were spotted in the Tickford garage in the hours after today’s race.
Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards says he believes the issue is electrical and revealed that the meeting is taking place.
“Plenty of theories, everybody’s got theories. It’s obviously the same thing that happened to Nick’s car,” said Edwards.
“We checked the catch can before the race and there was nothing in the catch can. I think the source of it has come from the electrical but we don’t know.
“The Technical Working Group are meeting at the moment. We’re letting all the smart people discuss it.”
While Percat’s car was repaired and competed in today’s race, Edwards says Courtney’s car won’t be seen on Sunday.
“We don’t have half the spares to fix it,” he said. “We’ll wash it and put it on a flat bed and take it to the factory.”
MORE: Supercars issues statement in wake of Gen3 fires
Courtney’s car had also missed the Sunday race in Newcastle after a crash in the Top 10 Shootout, which required repairs at chassis specialist Pace Innovations in Queensland.
While it later emerged that chassis rail extensions of incorrect specifications contributed to the damage, there remains concern of the robustness and repairability of the Gen3 machines.
This was a NASTY fire! 😮
— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) April 1, 2023
The good news is that James Courtney is okay. 🙏
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