Supercars this week made a minuscule parity change to address a 2.3mm difference in the Centre of Gravity between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang.
It’s been said that such a minor change equates to 0.006s over a single lap at Wanneroo Raceway, where Gen3 will race for the first time next weekend.
MORE: Supercars announces pre-Perth parity tweak
So the question is, does 0.006 seconds – a 0.01 percent difference in overall lap time – make a difference?
An examination of the record books of the last 28 pole positions at Wanneroo since 2009 reveal an amazing fact: 14 percent of those pole positions have been decided by – you guessed it – under 0.006s.
2009 Race 1 – Craig Lowndes by 0.0052s over Jamie Whincup
What’s remarkable about this margin is that it was not in a regular qualifying session but in a shootout.
Craig Lowndes stole pole by 0.0052s over teammate Jamie Whincup at an awkward time, right as Whincup was trying to secure the 2009 title.
This shootout had close margins throughout the 10, the 0.3427s margin from Lowndes in first to Russell Ingall in ninth was the closest first to ninth margin in any Supercars Championship shootout until the first Gen3 shootout at Newcastle earlier this year.
2012 Race 2 – Jamie Whincup by 0.0029s over Mark Winterbottom
Whincup turned the tables in 2012, scoring pole by 0.0029s over Mark Winterbottom’s Ford Performance Racing Falcon.
FPR got one back in the race, with Will Davison taking the win by 2.92s over Whincup.
This is the closest pole margin in the Supercars Championship at the Perth track.
2013 Race 2 – Jason Bright by 0.0047s over Will Davison
The first races in the Car of the Future era produced a variety of different results as teams got accustomed to their new equipment.
Brad Jones Racing stormed to the pole with Jason Bright aboard, but the margin was again minimal – 0.0047s over Will Davison FPR FG Falcon.
Bright was on a hot streak at the time, this being his third pole in the previous eight races, including a crucial one which helped the team lift the Jason Richards Trophy in Pukekohe.
2013 Race 3 – Jamie Whincup by 0.0037s over Craig Lowndes
Somehow, the margin in the next qualifying session held minutes later was even tighter for Race 3.
This time it was a Triple Eight 1-2, but the margin was the second closest in Wanneroo history – 0.0037s.
Triple Eight didn’t have it all their own way though.
Like the previous qualifying session, there were five cars with 0.2s, including Mark Winterbottom’s FPR Falcon, Fabian Coulthard’s BJR Commodore, and a young charge by the name of Scott McLaughlin, showing signs of a driver that would take 31 percent of the pole positions available from this point to the end of the 2020 season.
Four of the last 28 pole positions in Perth have been taken by less than the 0.006s benchmark. Of all pole positions at Wanneroo: 27 of them have been decided by under 0.1s.
Food for thought as the Chevrolet crews move 4.97kg of weight before going on track in Western Australia.
