FORD’s Supercars teams have slammed the parity situation at the Bathurst 1000 as “unacceptable”, while allaying fears that a boycott will take place at the Mountain.
The Blue Oval’s push to have an aerodynamic upgrade kit approved for Bathurst has been rejected by the Supercars Board, amid heavy opposition from the Chevrolet teams.
Ford reacted to the news with a statement stressing it is “deeply disappointed” with an “ongoing lack of technical parity in the Supercars Championship”.
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The teams have also now broken their silence on the matter through a joint statement noting that a disparity has been acknowledged, but not acted upon.
However, the teams have declared they will “be doing their upmost this weekend, it’s what the fans deserve, it’s what our partners deserve, it’s what the Great Race deserves.”
There had been swirling speculation that the Ford teams would sandbag in practice, or boycott the first session entirely, in protest of the decision.
Read the full statement from the Ford teams below:
Following ongoing analysis, Supercars, in conjunction with its independent CFD partner, D2H group, have acknowledged that there continues to be a disparity between the Gen3 Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Therefore, technical parity has still not been achieved.
Unfortunately, the proposed changes to the Ford Mustang, which have been acknowledged by all parties involved to reduce the delta between the two models, will not be implemented for the Bathurst 1000 this weekend.
The independent data shows that the Mustang will be at a continued disadvantage for the biggest race of the year, which we believe is unacceptable – and not what our sport is built upon.
While disappointed in the situation, every Ford team will be doing their upmost this weekend, it’s what the fans deserve, it’s what our partners deserve, it’s what the Great Race deserves.
We will continue working together to correct the imbalance going forward, but now, our attention turns on track, respecting the challenge that The Mountain provides.
