Supercar parity solution ‘urgent’

Dick Johnson Racing chief executive David Noble has warned there is a “massive sense of urgency” to resolve Supercars’ parity dramas as he addressed his team’s struggles ahead of a critical in-season test for the Ford squad.

The debate over parity continues to hover over the Supercars championship following a winless start to the Gen3 era for the Blue Oval.

Chevrolet Camaros have taken the chequered flag in all 12 races this year, but Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters was named the race one winner in Newcastle after Triple Eight’s technical disqualification.

The parity issue spotlight shone again no Fords made a podium in the last round at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

While Noble did not want to blame parity solely for the team’s struggles, he said the results indicated there was still work to be done.

“We are not going to shy away from the fact that we’ve been in the battle with the other Ford teams to get it better,” Noble said.

Engine performance remains a point of contention. It’s understood a trial of new engine mapping is likely to continue at next month’s round in Darwin, while beefed up testing for the Camaro and Mustang engines is to take place in Melbourne.

While Noble said the Mustang’s gap to the Camaros was closing, he said the Ford teams did not have the engine performance to challenge for wins.

“If you look across the paddock, the hardest thing for the Ford teams … is the consistency to be able to repeat those laps time after time after time to get us in a position to win,” Noble said. “How far are we off? Each race weekend we seem to be getting closer. I’d like to be able to confidently say that we are going to Darwin with the sense of believing that we can win races, but I’m not sure.”