Supercars' decision to reduce the maximum rear wing angle on the Camaro ahead of Practice 5 has sparked a furious reaction from Chevrolet. General Motors (GM) has labelled the move as an "emotional decision" made in haste.
Supercars officially announced that the Camaros would run with a reduced maximum rear wing angle, down 0.3 degrees to 8.4 degrees, effective from Practice 5. The change came after the Camaro dominated all three Friday practice sessions, prompting protests from Ford teams, including Triple Eight Race Engineering and Grove Racing.
GM Motorsport Director McNamara expressed his frustration to Speedcafe. "Short-sighted," he said. "It's an emotional decision, which wasn't Supercars. I was pretty surprised about it but there are other factors at play." This refers to Grove Racing's apparent decision to engage lawyers, claiming the Teams Racing Charter had been breached.
Supercars justified the change by citing data from the three Friday practice sessions. However, McNamara dismissed that as a legitimate reason, pointing to variables such as tyre qualities and fuel loads. Nevertheless, he said Chevrolet teams simply have to accept the change and do their best through the rest of the weekend.
"There will be ongoing discussions, but we'll get on with the job and do what we have to do," McNamara said. "As much as everybody has suggested we have average teams and drivers, we've got amazing teams and drivers and good technical support. So we'll revisit what they've asked us and go and do the job for the weekend."
The decision puts Chevrolet on the back foot. Earlier, they had been granted revised splitter skids that added downforce, and the Camaro had been dominant in practice. Now, with the reduced wing angle, the car's balance changes. "It puts us behind the eight-ball for the weekend, which is not what we wanted, because we came here thinking that at least we've got a further competitive window," McNamara added.
McNamara also denied suggestions that GM had threatened to quit the sport if it had not received a parity change. GM's original proposal is understood to have included an increase in rear wing angle, which was denied by Supercars. Meanwhile, Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan admitted he only found out six minutes before the session started. "It was a bit concerning they did it because yesterday we had three sessions, now all of a sudden they could have changed something," he said.
Ryan added that the impact wasn't too severe, as his team finished first and second in Practice 4. The change is only compulsory from Practice 5, and GM teams used the co-driver Practice 4 session to assess the revised wing position. Now, all eyes are on how the Camaro adapts to the new restrictions for the rest of the weekend.
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