Ford star Mark Winterbottom believes Holden’s next generation Commodore has thrown down a gauntlet to the rest of the Supercars field.
The new model Commodore – the ZB – made its Supercars debut at the Adelaide 500 this weekend and wasted little time getting into the winner’s circle following Shane Van Gisbergen’s victory in Saturday’s 250km season opener.
Van Gisbergen has also swept the pole positions at the Adelaide 500, proving the ZB – the first Supercar based off a hatchback road car – has one-lap speed as well as race pace.
Rivals, particularly those driving Falcons, have raised concerns about a supposed weight advantage with the new Commodore.
Tickford Racing and DJR Team Penske both claim the ZB’s additional composite parts, particularly its roof, give it a centre-of-gravity advantage over the Fords and Nissan Altimas in the field, which have steel roofs.
Winterbottom says its no surprise Triple Eight Race Engineering – who Van Gisbergen races for as part of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team – has delivered a superior race product after 18 months developing the car.
« They don’t do bad things. I’ve never seen Triple Eight do something that was slower, » the 2016 champion told AAP.
« It’s always an advantage and good on them, they work hard, get it approved and off they go.
« It’s a better aero package, looks really good. They’ve done a good job on it. There’s no doubt that’s a better car than what they’ve had. »
Winterbottom’s boss at Tickford Racing, Tim Edwards, says the Ford teams are already looking into ways they can alter the weight distribution in the Falcon to match the ZB.
And despite the Commodore’s impressive start, Winterbottom doesn’t believe the Falcons are facing an unfair competition.
« It is what it is, I think we’ve got a car quick enough to win if we get it right, we’ve just got to work harder, » he said.
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/22638986/new-holden-makes-roaring-supercars-start
