MULTIPLE Supercars teams will stay back at The Bend Motorsport Park after this weekend’s OTR SuperSprint to complete testing on the category’s behalf.
V8 Sleuth understands a mix of Camaros and Mustangs will run on Monday at the South Australian circuit with various elements in the spotlight.
Triple Eight, for example, will be trialling upgrades made to the maligned Gen3 steering rack. The existing product will be used throughout this weekend’s race meeting.
“The thing we’re testing, I don’t know about the other teams, is some steering rack stuff for the category,” Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton told V8 Sleuth.
“That will be pretty cool. Obviously there has been the issues we have had on our cars but up and down pitlane everyone has had some issues with steering racks.
“It’s a bit of a community effort so we’re staying behind leaving a skeleton crew and one car to cut a few laps and test some modifications to a steering rack.
“So that’s not in on the weekend, that will be put in for Monday.
“It’s not necessarily the sturdiness (of the steering rack) but it’s just to make them more refined and consistent, better feedback to the drivers and things like that.
“That’s the goal. Whether we achieve that, we’ll hopefully find out Monday.”
If the test is successful, Dutton said the modifications would be able to be applied up and down pitlane prior to next month’s Sandown 500.
“Definitely, because they’re only modifications to the existing stuff,” he said.
“It still involves work; you would have to strip them, make part components, et cetera, but it is definitely something that could be rolled out pretty quickly.”
It’s understood other steering rack solutions are also being worked on in the background for a potential 2024 implementation.
Aero is another facet set to be assessed on Monday, after Ford teams expressed concern in Sydney about a top speed deficit. The two enduro events, Sandown and Bathurst, both feature long straights.
“I think drag is a thing that the Ford teams will be looking at and straight-line speed and I think we will get a bit of a sample of it here,” Walkinshaw Andretti United team principal Bruce Stewart said yesterday.
“So certainly, when you’re looking forward at Conrod Straight and going up Mountain Straight, you’ll want to have straight-line speed.
“It’s pretty difficult to pass across the top, so certainly it’s something that anyone in a Mustang will be wary of.”
Repco Supercars Championship action at The Bend kicks off with Practice 1 from 9:45am local time (10:15am AEST).
