Last year saw the debut of the ‘Gen3’ regulations in Australia’s Supercars Championship. Gen3 is a technical regulation overhaul focused on reducing costs, improving competition and maintaining relevance to the road market.
Supercars aimed to achieve this by controlling component design, reducing downforce and using engines derived from OEMs, among other changes. The 12-round season has now been run, and won by Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki, so let’s take a look at the regulations and their impact on Australia’s premier motor racing category.
Project Blueprint
The first major technical regulations overhaul in Supercars history came as Project Blueprint in 2003, which aimed to improve parity by regulating engines, aerodynamics and suspension between the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon models.
Engine port angles and deck heights were standardised, and pistons, rods and crankshafts were all given minimum weights. Common chassis pick-up points were established between the two models of car and a minimum front axle weight of 740kg was introduced.
Double wishbone front suspension layouts were used on both models (the Commodore previously had MacPherson struts) and wheelbase and track widths were controlled, as well as front splitter and rear wing dimensions.
The decade after the introduction of Project Blueprint saw consistency in the battle between Ford and Holden but without any other OEMs . This, in turn, led to the Car of the Future (CoF) regulations overhaul in 2013.
Car of the Future
CoF aimed to improve safety, reduce costs, improve competition and open the category to new manufacturers.
It used control components such as the rollcage, chassis, rear suspension (independent instead of live axle, as used in previous generations), transaxle (instead of separate gearbox and differential housings), wiring loom and MoTeC electronics. The idea was to minimise costs through reduced R&D for teams and to improve competition by further standardising components.
Nissan and Mercedes-Benz joined the championship with the Altima and E63 models respectively and, in 2014, Volvo signed up with the S60.
Safety was improved by moving the driver closer to the car centreline and positioning the fuel cell in front of the rear axle, instead of behind it.
Supercars achieved its stated aims
