Supercars completes post-AGP CoG test

Supercars has completed a post-Australian Grand Prix Centre of Gravity (CoG) test, following changes made to the cars in the off-season.

The latest CoG testing follows various changes to the two cars ahead of the 2024 season, with a Camaro and Mustang put through industry-leading wind tunnel testing in the United States during the off-season.

Cars from nine different teams went under the microscope following last weekend’s Melbourne round, where six different teams claimed either a pole position, race win or podium.

All testing took place at Dunlop’s Melbourne factory, utilising equipment that captured data, that will now be analysed by Supercars technical staff.

Cars from Triple Eight (#88 Camaro), Dick Johnson Racing (#17 Mustang), Tickford Racing (#55 Mustang), Brad Jones Racing (#14 Camaro) and PremiAir Nulon Racing (#23 Camaro) were all tested on Monday.

On Tuesday, tests were completed on cars from Erebus Motorsport (#9 Camaro), Walkinshaw Andretti United (#25 Mustang), Team 18 (#20 Camaro) and Penrite Racing (#19 Mustang).

"We had a successful two days testing nine of the cars at Dunlop after the AGP,” Supercars Motorsport Engineering Manager Hugh Millear told Supercars.com.

"The majority of the effort went into understanding the build specification of each of the cars and verifying the common set-up of each car, as we are working to understand the root cause of any differences between models and between the same model of car.

"We have worked to improve transparency with each of the teams around the process and results, which helps ensure any concerns from either side are able to be addressed as early as possible. This includes any future process improvements, which was implemented this year from feedback in 2023."

CoG testing involves leaning the cars on their side, in order to establish the angle at which the cars are balanced before falling over.

"Each test is another chance for us to further our understanding of the cars,” Millear said.

“CoG testing involves fitting each car to a standard rig, which ensures the cars are placed in the same position laterally and vertically.

"Once on the rig, we raise each car up to past 70 degrees, and then work to find the angle for each car at which the car will be stable for multiple seconds.

"Finding this balance point is repeated multiple times for each test condition to ensure confidence in the measured angle.

"We have found both last year and this year for the process to quite repeatable, which gives us and teams confidence in the results we measured."

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship continues at the ITM Taupō Super400 on April 19-21. Fans planning on attending the event are being encouraged to lock in ticketing options.