Triple Eight has pointed the finger at Supercars over the recent lack of speed of the Ford Mustang driven by Will Brown, and Supercars has admitted that a part it supplied to the team was undersized.
On Wednesday afternoon Triple Eight team principal and co-owner Jamie Whincup issued a statement in which he revealed that an engine air restrictor, a part Supercars stipulates all the Ford engines must run, was the wrong size.
“At 7pm last night we found a significant issue on car #888,” said the statement.
“Since the start of this season, car #888 has been running with an undersized engine airflow restrictor. This part manages the airflow into the engine and has a significant negative impact on engine performance, and therefore lap time.
“This is not a part we, Triple Eight or Red Bull Ampol Racing, manufacture. This is a supplied part from Supercars expected to be the same for all 11 Ford Mustangs, distributed at the start of the season and expected to be run for the whole season.
“We as a team are taking responsibility and want to deeply apologise to everyone involved for allowing this to happen.”
Several hours later Supercars made a statement of its own, in which it admitted that the part was not of the correct specification.
“Supercars acknowledges the finding that Car 888 has competed during the 2026 Supercars season with an air restrictor that is one millimetre smaller in size than is prescribed for the Ford Mustang,” it said.
“The component was loaned by Supercars to Triple Eight Race Engineering (T8RE) for demonstration purposes only at the team’s launch in February.
“The air restrictor subsequently remained fitted to Car 888 through the Perth Super 440. Neither party identified the discrepancy until it was discovered by T8RE during preparations for next weekend’s event in Ipswich.
“Throughout the Supercars season, routine scrutineering and compliance checks are carried out at random by Supercars’ Technical department, covering a vast range of components and systems. As of the Perth event, the air restrictor fitted to Car 888 had not been selected for inspection during those checks.
“Supercars is reviewing the circumstances surrounding this matter and will evaluate opportunities to strengthen its technical and operational procedures moving forward.
“Supercars acknowledges and appreciates T8RE’s identifying and prompt reporting of the matter to Supercars.”
Triple Eight has also confirmed that it would still proceed to have a new car for Brown, who is currently in seventh place in the championship points, at the next round of the series at Queensland Raceway on 21-23 August.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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