Late swaps to Ford Mustangs’ air restrictor diameter and cam timing let the marque head‑to‑head with Chevrolet Camaros on Mount Panorama during Bathurst 1000 practice.
Rapid parity tweak fuels team friction
Supercars notified Team 18 (Chevrolet), Triple Eight (Ford) and Walkinshaw WTWG that the Ford units were losing roughly 12 horsepower at altitude. The sanctioning body therefore increased the restrictor by 2 mm and altered cam timing, reverting to the old configuration for the Gold Coast round in October.
Team 18 manager Adrian Burgess voiced frustration, saying, “I was expecting this two seconds before we hit the strip.” He added that more meetings were coming, but no resolution had yet been announced.
Practice sees mixed results across brands
In the first session, Grove Racing’s Kai Allen steered a 2:05.8586‑second lap in a Ford Mustang, 0.25 seconds faster than Chevrolet’s Jayden Ojeda and veteran David Reynolds. The second session saw Lochie Dalton echo Allen’s pace, staying 0.02 seconds shy of matching the leader.
All four; Ford and Chevrolet teams sang the same theme – a clear divide from Toyota. The GR Supra made its Bathurst debut but stalled in the 15‑th place and second half of the field. Chaz Mostert/Fabian Coulthard’s 17th‑place first run was nearly two seconds into the 180‑name field, with Toyota’s second run only slightly better: Jordan Boys posted a 15th‑place time, ahead of Bryce Fullwood.
Toyota teams lag while brake tuning bends expectations
Road‑to‑track grip increased across the circuit, and drivers accepted higher miles to wet‑out brakes and hoten the rubber. The Toyota squad battled some brake issues, and the WTWG Camaros of Coulthard and Jaxon Evans were slower as the team wrestled with unreliability.
Coming Friday, two further practice sessions will precede the pivotal 40‑minute Qualifying session, a moving target in which each brand will try to shore up the gains achieved in the early run.
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