SUPERCARS teams should take stock of their randomly allocated engines shortly as crunch time nears for Gen3.
Herrod Performance Engines, which is producing the 5.4-litre Coyotes, has at least one engine ready for each of the 11 Ford Mustangs on the grid.
Its counterpart, KRE Race Engines, is in a similar boat for the 14 Chevrolet Camaros it will power with 5.7-litre pushrods.
The next stage of the process is currently playing out, being that Supercars’ engine specialist Craig Hasted will validate all units before the championship distributes them.
MORE: How Supercars will handle Gen3 engine complaints
KRE and Triple Eight are hoping to help Chevrolet teams speed up the process of inserting motors upon receipt, providing additional CAD drawings for plumbing installation.
“We’re trying to give them as much stuff as we can just so that when it goes in it’s plug and play as best we can make it,” KRE boss Ken McNamara told V8 Sleuth.
“We’re trying to get it so that the teams, they can get a couple of water lines and a couple of radiator hoses and the motor will start.”
HPE’s Rob Herrod said his operation is well placed as it now seeks to firm up its servicing plan.
“We’re in a very good spot. Very comfortable, very happy with what we’ve got. We’re on top of it,” he told V8 Sleuth.
Both the General Motors and Ford engines completed durability testing in the United States last August/September.
There’s now just a fortnight until the maiden shakedown of teams’ Gen3 cars, with Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing, Matt Stone Racing and PremiAir Racing heading to Queensland Raceway on January 30.
Two days later and the remaining seven teams are due to run at Winton Motor Raceway.
There remains considerable doubt within the industry about the ability to make those dates as teams continue to wait for parts to arrive.
Many mechanics ended up getting an unexpected Christmas break given they had little more they could do at that point in time, with a frantic rush now anticipated as parts come in at the last minute.
Additional Gen3 prototype testing will take place this week, including Wednesday at Queensland Raceway, as Supercars and Ford look to address potential parity concerns.
It’s understood that will precede a comparative test with both the Mustang and Camaro next week, after which certain components may be finalised at last.
