Tuesday 17th April 2018

Ford back in Supercars

Factory Mustang will race in Australia next year, with a V8 too...

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Everyone loves touring cars, don't they? And arguably there's no better touring car series in the world than Australia's Supercars championship, with 500hp tin tops racing on some stunning circuits. Some will say it isn't what is used to be, but then name a similar series that is.

Today the Supercars series has been bolstered by the return of Ford as a fully fledged manufacturer. Better than that, it's using a Mustang to do so, replacing various versions of Falcon that have seen service for the past quarter of a century. And even better than that, it will continue to use a V8 because, in Ford's own words, it was "probably the most competitive and reliable way". Jolly good!

Ford hasn't officially supported Supercars since 2014, when the current FG X generation of Falcon was homologated (and which privateer teams continue to campaign). With the Gen2 rules for Supercars now in place, two-door cars are eligible, and so Ford decided to race the Mustang rather than the Australian Mondeo. The motorsport return is a collaborative effort between DJR Team Penske, Tickford Racing and Ford Performance in Australia, with some input from America too.

The main focus on Mustang development will be in aerodynamics, given the championship runs a control chassis. This probably helped tip the decision in the Mustang's favour over the Mondeo, too.

Ryan Story, MD of DJR Team Penske, said the team has a "very good" understanding of getting that body over the control chassis, but has admitted "We've got a heck of a lot of work to do ahead of us, and we're hoping we can meet the standard deadlines and timetables you see for homologating new vehicles." Supercars legend Dick Johnson is still involved with the team, too, and added, "Throughout the entire history of this team, we've never run anything but a Ford, and this announcement today is fantastic." Don't expect to see him back behind the wheel, however...

While Australian touring cars may seem a world away from our BTCC, perhaps the best news to take from this is a sustained commitment from Ford to motorsport. Finally, if you're a bit cynical about control chassis touring cars, watch the highlights from Adelaide below - it's still pretty good!

 

[Images: LAT]

 

[Turbobanana]

Great news! But...

...given it's a control chassis, and a control engine, really all they're doing is racing a Mustang bodyshell with some aero.

Should look fantastic, mind, and this is still my favourite current series.

[Dr G]

Didn't think these used a control engine...

[Turbobanana]

Dr G said:

Didn't think these used a control engine...

No, you're right. I meant that it is a "controlled" engine, rather than one particular type. IIRC Mercedes had to do something with theirs a few years back in the Erebus Team to bring it closer to the performance limitations of pushrod Ford / GM powerplants. Likewise Volvo and Nissan.

[sumpoil]

If Ford would like to supply me with a GT350R I'd gladly give the British GT Championship a go! .... come on Mr. Barratt, you know you want to!

[mfp4073]

We should just go back to basic 1960's -1970's Trans am racing, using cars people can identify with. Those were quality days, unlike the synthetic races of today.

[PokiGTA]

Turbobanana said:

No, you're right. I meant that it is a "controlled" engine, rather than one particular type. IIRC Mercedes had to do something with theirs a few years back in the Erebus Team to bring it closer to the performance limitations of pushrod Ford / GM powerplants. Likewise Volvo and Nissan.

The new engine requirements have been expanded to include turbo 6's and other engines mainly because the Commodore doesn't come with an LS engine anymore... not that an LS has ever been used in a V8 Supercar but that's besides the point when it comes to V8s. Pretty sure most of the Australian great unwashed who watch it think their V6 auto with the Chev bowtie badge and chopped springs is exactly the same as the race car.

Its a shame that the 'Mustang' will not be using the new DOHC Coyote V8 and will stick with the SVO OHV 5ltr.