Supercars engine fires prompt emergency meetings

There have now been two serious engines fires in as many days, both occurring on Ford Mustangs from different teams.

Yesterday it was Nick Percat's Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford that caught fire early in the race, while today James Courtney's Tickford Mustang was badly scorched by what looks to be an identical issue.

The second fire has now sparked tension in the paddock with concerns over driver safety.

The Gen3 Supercars run a whole new engine package than their predecessors, with a move to more production-based V8 Ford and Chevrolet units.

The source of the fires is yet to be determined, with WAU left convinced the issue on the Percat car was electrical from a control sensor.

Supercars wasn't convinced by that, though, issuing a directive to teams today suggesting that the 'BF1 TPMS ECU', which is part of the tyre pressure monitoring systems, wasn't to blame.

Instead the series warned teams to check oil levels and drain catch cans before today's race – something that didn't prevent the Courtney fire. 

The second fire has now sparked tension in the paddock with concerns over driver safety.

In the wake of the fire the Tickford garage was filled with senior technical personnel from almost all rival teams, as well as the likes of Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess and engine specialist Craig Hasted.

Members of the Technical Working Group has since met to discuss the issue.

Burgess declined to comment on the matter when approach by Motorsport.com earlier this evening.

Tickford CEO Tim Edwards did comment, although stopped short of putting a solid theory forward – except to say that it wasn't related to the oil tank or catch can, and that it did feel like it was triggered by an electrical issue. 

"None whatsoever," when asked if there were any clues as to what happened. 

"Plenty of theories, everybody's got theories. It's obviously the same thing that happened to Nick's car. 

"We checked the catch can before the race and there was nothing in the catch can.

"I think the source of it has come from the electrical but we don't know."

While Courtney is out of tomorrow's race, Edwards did admit that he is concerned over putting his other three drivers back in cars that could feasibly suffer the same issue.

"Yes," he said when asked if concerned over driver safety. "Anyway, the Technical Working Group are meeting at the moment. We're letting all the smart people discuss it."

As for Courtney's car being parked for the weekend, Edwards said: "We don't have half the spares to fix it. We'll wash it and put it on a flat bed and take it to the factory."