Dominance of new Holden sparks concern among rival teams

The new Holden ZB Commodore had a perfect debut in the 2018 Supercars Championship season opener, claiming all but one of the six available podium finishes, a performance that has sparked concern among the rival teams.

The new Commodore features for example a carbon fibre roof and other lightweight components instead of the original factory components, as approved by the Supercars organisation.

While all cars weigh the mandatory 1,410kg including driver, rival teams claim that the new Holden ZB Commodore has an unfair advantage in terms of lower centre of gravity.

“We’ve become aware of it over the course of the past week and it’s something you need to address,” said Ryan Story, managing director of DJR Team Penske to supercars.com.

“At the end of the day, centre-of-gravity is king in any racecar so it’s something we need to address and do so as quickly as we can to ensure that we address a modest imbalance.

“We’re not ultimately responsible for it as the homologating team, but it’s something that we’re pushing for and we work very, very closely with [Tickford] as is well known. I think a precedent’s been set with some of these panels, and if we’re going down the path of ensuring that we have parity, we just need to ensure that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. And the series knows that.”

Triple Eight Race Engineering, the team that claimed both wins in the season opener with Shane van Gisbergen, argues that there is no noticeable difference in the centre of gravity compared to their rivals.

“Supercars’ technical department did their due diligence by getting all of the panel weights. They did a bonnet, a windscreen, a roof, a rear screen, for us a rear hatch, for others a bootlid, a wing, all the different elements and then added them together,” said Mark Dutton, team manager of Triple Eight.

“What people may not realise is the hatch has big, heavy hinges that aren’t visible. It’s extra support on the roof, because the wing is trying to pull the hatch off. So Supercars did a study, measured all the panel weights, spoke to the various teams and manufacturers and the ZB, from my understanding, isn’t the lightest.”

Dutton however admits that the new Commodore is running with more ballast compared to the old Commodore to meet the minimum weight.

“Yes, is the short answer, but that’s more to do with evolution and hard work than necessarily panel weights,” said Dutton.

“The Wright brothers didn’t fly a 747. When we build a new model, and any year before we go racing, we work all off-season to make the car as light as possible. We’re in a good position and that’s a reflection of the hard work. Has the fact it’s a new model worked [in our favour]? Yes, because it’s forced us to redesign more components than we would otherwise coming into this season.”