FORD’S lean year in the Repco Supercars Championship could be set to hit another rare bright patch this weekend.
The Gen3 Mustang’s only two wins to date have come at street circuits, one apiece at Newcastle and Townsville.
The other two street circuits on the calendar are all that’s left to come in 2023, and prior to the first of those – this weekend’s Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 – Ford almost certainly will get its aero parity upgrades approved.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to get a parity adjustment this weekend,” Tickford Racing veteran James Courtney told Gold Coast media today.
“I know the boys have already put some stuff on the car and in the truck on the way up, so that should balance it out a little bit.
“The Fords weren’t too bad at Townsville, Anton (De Pasquale) got a (win) there and we have been getting better and better as the year goes on with the mechanical grip.
“I think with those parity adjustments and the mechanical grip in the Mustang, we should be in with a shot.”
Townsville 500 Race 2 winner De Pasquale was a little more circumspect.
“It’s one of those years where you never get your hopes up. It’s so changeable week in, week out,” he said.
“We obviously won the last street race. Hopefully that shows form into this one but the track is a fair bit different.”
That Townsville triumph turned De Pasquale’s season around; from 20th in the standings at one point, he is now seventh and ahead of teammate Will Davison.
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“Had a shocking start to the year, we didn’t land with our feet running with the car,” said De Pasquale.
“We re-learnt a lot of things throughout the year and came off a few DNFs on that path as well, so we’ve just been knuckling down and have got a few trophies now which is really cool.
“Obviously with everything political and all the stuff going on, it hasn’t been an easy year for most people, but we’ve just been doing our thing, chipping away, and getting better and better.
“Hopefully that keeps going forward and then when things get evened out that little bit more, we’re in there fighting every weekend.”
Track action at Surfers Paradise starts Friday.
