Bosses slam ‘disappointing’ Supercars after 9pm memo triggers rage
Supercars team boss Adrian Burgess has slammed the category over a late-night memo sent around over parity changes ahead of the Bathurst 1000, claiming the sport was going through a “disappointing period”.
Burgess also took aim at drivers in the paddock for using the media to “sway opinion and decision” on the ongoing engine parity debates.
Adrian Burgess had some choice remarks about the ongoing saga. Supercars
The frustration stems from ongoing barometric pressure testing aimed at equalising the performance across the field’s three competing cars: the Toyota Supra, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.
Data from the latest round of testing was only sent to the homologation teams -Team 18, Walkinshaw TWG and Triple Eight - after 9pm AEST on Wednesday, just hours before the first practice session.
“Look, we received some information about 9:20pm last night, (that) was the first communication we’ve had on the matter,” Burgess said in the teams’ press conference on Thursday morning.
“Obviously we knew it was being conducted but we don’t know an outcome.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, to be honest, seeing as we’re having this conversation 12 months ago, and it’s 9:20 on a Wednesday night, the day before first on track, when you receive your first bit of information. Got no idea on resolution, outcomes or anything like that yet.”
That outcome has now been made public, as a statement from Supercars followed those damning comments on Thursday afternoon.
The category announced it approved a change to the Ford Mustang engines for this weekend’s Bathurst 1000, following the pre-event testing.
It stated that the Ford engine suffered a loss of power at altitude and the change will only be in effect for Bathurst, reversing for the Gold Coast round later in October.
Team 18’s Burgess was also deeply critical of the political games from both drivers and teams that have played out this season in the media.
“I think it’s a disappointing period for the sport as a whole, to be honest,” continued Burgess.
“You’ve got drivers in the media trying to sway opinion and decision, you got teams clearly not showing their full hand. But look, I don’t like it. It’s not the way we should be doing it.”
Teams weren’t given information until the night before racing began at Bathurst. Robert Cianflone
When asked, team boss Ryan Walkinshaw echoed Burgess’ sentiments, blasting Supercars for a lack of rigour in their approach to the parity saga.
“To jump on board with what Adrian said, we first spoke to Supercars about doing this sort of testing at the beginning of our Ford campaign, a year before,” Walkinshaw admitted.
“But the testing wasn’t really done to the standards that would be expected or required to make a scientific analysis and make the right decision.
“Now we’ve got three different engines in the category, so even more complexity.
“Again, we also only got the information (last night) so our guys are still going through it.”
Track running has begun at Bathurst with practice one and two on Thursday, before qualifying starts on Friday at 4:10pm AEST.
