Supercars legend blasts ‘boring’ 33-year fight ahead of Bathurst
Supercars legend Mark Skaife has erupted over technical parity disputes, urging teams to settle their differences behind closed doors as the Bathurst 1000 looms.
Technical parity, which is designed to create a level performance baseline for all cars, has remained a highly publicised sore point throughout the Gen3 era.
Three-time Supercars champion and former commentator Mark Skaife in 2024. Getty
The debate flared up again this season with the arrival of the Toyota Supra, which prompted renewed wind tunnel testing and fresh technical adjustments in a bid to level the playing field across the Supercars paddock.
Instead, the 2026 season has been a one-horse race.
Ford has thoroughly dominated the championship, winning all but six races.
While acknowledging the results are heavily stacked in Ford’s favour, Skaife stressed that public bickering is now harming the sport’s image.
“At the moment Ford have won 23 races, Toyota have won four, Chevy have won two – Ford have dominated this year,” he said on Fox’s Motor Racing 360.
“But we have all these dramas, we have all this blueing; it needs to be done in a boardroom away from the main game, away from the public.”
Skaife didn’t mince words when expressing his frustration with the endless complaining.
“Get it sorted out. We’ve been dealing with this since 1993, and I am so sick of it. It is so average and is as boring as batshit,” Skiafe reiterated.
Despite the three-time champion’s pleas, teams show no signs of backing down.
Triple Eight, Ford’s homologation team, intends to keep fighting, declaring it will work “to get the category to ensure it is a level playing field with technical parity as we head to Bathurst.”
Skaife also shed light on the compromises that led to the current disparity. Originally, Supercars and the manufacturers agreed that the Camaro would serve as the aerodynamic baseline, with the Mustang and debutant Supra tasked with matching its performance.
But Skaife revealed the current imbalance stems from the Mustang and Supra failing to reach the thresholds set by the Camaro during that testing phase.
Ford has dominated the 2026 season. Supercars
“As it turned out, they went through all the testing and the other two couldn’t make it to the threshold that was the datum of the Camaro,” Skaife continued.
“Basically, late in the process - they were time locked in the wind tunnel - they had to detune the Camaro. Everyone thinks they won all these races in 25 but the car’s the same in 26. It’s not. It was detuned.
“That’s where we are right now.”
Supercars heads to the mountain for the Bathurst 1000 weekend on October 8-11.
