Barry Ryan has never been one to mince words. The outspoken Supercars figure has pointed the finger at the decision to alter the Chevrolet Camaro's aerodynamics to match the Ford Mustang and Toyota Supra as the root cause of the ongoing parity saga.
"I was really pissed off at the start of the year when I heard the Chev had been changed," Ryan told MotorRacing 360. "We were supposed to be the incumbent, the Toyota was supposed to match us. Ford were messing around with their car, they were supposed to match usg Once I found out they changed our car I was so angry and I let it be known. History shows they did the wrong thing and we're trying to get it back to where it should be."
The Camaro's aero package has been revised four times this season, including twice at The Bend 500. It entered last December's wind tunnel testing at Windshear as the baseline car, with the new Mustang and Supra required to match its numbers. However, the gap was so significant that Supercars, in conjunction with the three homologation teams, decided to change the plan on the run to ensure all cars were homologated in time.
General Motors successfully lobbied for two revisions ahead of Ruapuna and Symmons Plains to shift the aero balance rearward. Supercars then approved more changes before The Bend, adding downforce via revised splitter skids to improve stability under braking and corner entry. But that adjustment moved the Camaro outside the agreed 'parity box', leading Ford teams to allege a breach of the Teams Racing Charter.
"The sensitivity of these cars is so critical. All of a sudden you change something and you think it's not much but it's made a huge difference to this year," Ryan continued. "The way we had to roll out the cars, we sort of had two rookie drivers again and had no baseline. We believed the wind tunnel data and thought it's not going to be that much of a change, but it was massive. The [front splitter] tunnel on ours got closed up 300mm, it was huge. We only got 35mm back [on each side of the tunnel] at Tailem Bend. It was a nothing change."
Despite the controversy, the reduced downforce could play into Chevrolet's hands at Bathurst. "They've given us less drag," Ryan said. "Not saying it's less drag than the other cars, but it's less drag than what we had last year at Bathurst."
Supercars has today kicked off barometric pressure testing on engines – an area some Ford teams believe is crucial to ensuring straight-line speed. The saga continues, but for Ryan, the damage has already been done.
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