There was no shortage of intrigue surrounding the new ZB Commodore on debut in the Supercars championship, with plenty of that intrigue generated by rival teams discussing a potential advantage all Holden teams have with the car.
In a game of inches, everything counts, and if the shoe was on the other foot you can rest assured leading Holden teams would be posing the same questions.
The issue, they say, is that the Commodore Supercars variant is made of all composite materials, other than the driver’s door skin, which is steel.
Nissan and Ford have steel roofs and steel bonnets, much the same as the road car variant.
I was asked recently what the problem was, given the rules mandate the cars must be a minimum weight. The issue is how that minimum weight is achieved.
Given Commodore doesn’t have the big, heavy steel roofs and bonnets the other cars have, it means they would very much come in under that weight and as such they must add lead to meet the minimum weight requirements. As such, they are going to place the lead as low as possible.
This means the Ford and Nissans have a higher centre of gravity, while the new Commodore has a lower centre of gravity – and in a race car going around corners at high speed, that is an advantage.
Until last year, DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing had steel rear light housings, having received permission to build composite martial rear light housings due to being unable to obtain originally engineered rear light housings from the manufacturer. That provides no benefit.
So DJR Team Penske say their weight is much higher and that can place them at a disadvantage in the corners over the new Commodore. On Saturday, post-race Supercars technical officials weighed every component once again.
DJR Team Penske has proposed making a submission to Supercars to be able to manufacture composite material roofs and bonnets so as they are in line with the new Commodore and everything is fair. This, however, is unlikely given the FGX Falcon is reaching the end of its lifespan.
In a way, the fuss is fair and valid. However, while the lower centre of gravity is an advantage, it does not mean the rest of the field is lagging behind and unable to match the Holden teams in regard to pace.
There will be tracks that potentially suit the Holdens better and the rest of the field may need to work that much harder to find the right set up. But so be it. As a Ford fan, I am not overly concerned about it – credit should be given to Triple 8 and the like for not only designing the Supercars variant, and providing the panels to all the other teams, but also for being able to develop a damn good car.
Congratulations to them, they have done a great job, an illustration as to why they have been the benchmark of the competition for the better part of a decade.
That said, I also don’t blame the rest of the competition for kicking up a stink. It is their job to do that and you should expect no less.
However, those teams should bear in mind the real task for the Holden teams and challenge is next year, when the new V6 turbo is introduced full time into the series.
No car or team has a single advantage that is going to make them run away from the rest of the field. The racing still promises to be as close as ever, so it is game on.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t continue to dominate headlines all season long.
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