Holden teams respond to centre of gravity changes 

Holden teams have reacted to confirmation that the ZB Commodore and Ford Mustang will be forced to undergo centre of gravity changes before next week’s Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint.  

Supercars confirmed yesterday that both the Ford Mustang and Holden ZB Commodore were found to have a significant CoG advantage over the ageing Nissan Altima.

Speedcafe.com has been told that 6.7 kilograms of ballast will be repositioned higher in the cars to increase the Commodore’s centre of gravity, following the results of a two-day CoG test last week.

It is understood that the Ford Mustang had a significant advantage over both the Holden and Nissan with suggestions as much as 30kg will be moved into the roof of the cars, which will increase its CoG and affect handling.

The Nissan Altima will remain unchanged.

Speedcafe.com has contacted Ford squads Shell V-Power Racing and Tickford Racing and is awaiting comment, while Kelly Racing team co-owner Rick Kelly has praised Supercars for redressing the imbalance.

Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan was among those pushing for a centre of gravity ruling and has commended the action from Supercars now that it has been confirmed that the Commodore was at a disadvantage. 

“At the end of the day, I think Adrian (Burgess) and Campbell (Little) have done a great job as the new technical leaders of the category,” Ryan told Speedcafe.com.

“I think they’ve been handed a pretty difficult situation with the way the Mustang is presented.

“We’re getting 6.7 kilos on the roof but from what I hear the Mustang has got significantly more than us. 

“So we’ve been at a significant disadvantage the last two rounds. 

“I’m just glad that we’ve got someone like Adrian leading technical, that’s got the balls to do the tests to start with, and then come up with a solution for what we need to do to achieve parity with the cars.”

While glad that the centre of gravity issue has been addressed, Ryan has revealed that concerns regarding the Mustang’s alleged aero advantage will be harder to resolve.  

“The aero is going to be probably the biggest task to try and get on top of, you’re not going to get on top of that in a week and a half like the CoG,” he added.

“It’s a bit deflating knowing that we’ve wasted two rounds of the championship and still have 13 rounds to go. We’ve got to answer to our sponsors and everybody, why we didn’t keep up the momentum of last year. 

“But anyway that’s life, that’s racing.”

Brad Jones, team owner of Brad Jones Racing, admits making changes to the cars during the season is a challenge but has heralded the way Supercars has tackled the issue. 

“It is always difficult when we change stuff on the run,” Jones told Speedcafe.com.

“I think Supercars have been very professional in the way they have handled it. The information that they have released explains the situation.

“I don’t think the timing is much of a problem, it is maybe a day’s work. We are putting the componentry into the car as we speak so I don’t see it being a problem for anyone.”   

Factory Holden squad Triple Eight has elected not to comment directly on the decision handed down by Supercars.

“As you may know, the team is in the midst of preparations for the back to back races ahead and are currently focusing on these events, therefore we haven’t got anything to add to the Supercars announcement,” read a statement from Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton. 

The new centre of gravity measures will be enforced at next week’s Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint from April 5-7.