Mighty Mustangs face scrutiny

SUPERCARS has sent data to engineering specialists in the UK to help determine whether the new Mustang has a performance advantage after its rampaging start to the year.

After a clean sweep of the opening six races of the season, the parity debate has erupted again as rival teams question whether the new twodoor Ford machine has an unfair edge.

DJR Team Penske’s defending champion Scott McLaughlin claimed another three victories and Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert one as the Mustang smashed its rivals at Albert Park. In response, Supercars’ technical officials have conducted centre-ofgravity testing on 10 cars — Mustangs, Commodores and Nissan Altimas — at Kelly Racing headquarters this week.

The Supercars technical team is now scrutinising the findings, while D2H Engineering group — who have experience from F1, NASCAR, IndyCar and Olympic sports — in the UK will also help with the analysis.

Supercars are trying to ascertain whether there is an imbalance in the new Mustang’s centre-of-gravity compared with the Holden and Nissan and whether this is an advantage. The category’s head of motorsport Adrian Burgess said Supercars would act if any issues were found.

“There are well defined processes, mechanisms and resources in place to manage the category and ensure equitable competition,” Burgess said.

“A wide range of data and information has and is being collected.”