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Tander to put Gen3 ergonomics to the test

Garth Tander says he was recruited by Supercars to drive the Gen3 Camaro this week to put the changes to the ergonomics to the test.

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3

Mark Horsburgh, Edge Photographics

Tander and Marcos Ambrose will take the wheel of the two prototypes at the Symmons Plains circuit later this week, the former in the Camaro and the latter in the Ford Mustang.

They will undertake passenger rides across the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Tasmania SuperSprint, in what marks the proper resumption of the development work of the next-gen cars.

Testing did begin in earnest earlier this year, only to ground to a halt last month when significant changes were required to the chassis to ease issues with driver comfort.

The break was also used to fit the mechanical gear selection system that will be used on the cars when they start racing in 2023.

Brodie Kostecki and Jamie Whincup were first to sample the revised Triple Eight-built Camaro at Queensland Raceway late last week, the former indicating that the ergonomics had improved.

The big test, however, will be how Tander and his 192cm frame go in the car in Tasmania.

"[Supercars Head of Motorsport] Adrian Burgess came and spoke to me in Sydney and said, 'I need to get you into the car because you're tall'," Tander told Motorsport.com.

"So it's not my driving that he wants, it's my height.

"I've never had that as a race car driver in the past, someone wanting me because I'm tall.

"I'm looking forward to driving it. Tasmania will be exciting because there is big heavy braking zones, so I can understand how the car performs in braking. And then get a good understanding of the engine performance as well.

"From what I understand, [the engine is] quite a torquey in the Camaro, quite a bit different to the five-litre pushrod engine we've used for a long time.

"I'm excited. I haven't spoken to anyone too much that's driven the cars, because I want to have a clear and open mind before I drive it."

Slashing downforce levels, which have climbed steeply in recent years, has been a key focus for Supercars in its Gen3 design.

According to Tander, targeting the aero levels of the mid-2000s, before dirty air was ever an issue, should be the target.

"The aero has obviously been a bit talking point around the current cars, and how much they have relevant to what Supercars had back in the day," said Tander. "Reducing that has been a key factor in Gen3.

"Where that is I don't know, but I hope it's round the 2004, 2005, 2006 levels of downforce. Where it was enough to keep the cars on the ground, but you could still follow closely when you were the car behind.

"I certainly hope bringing the aero back, and tidying up how it is done.... on a current Supercar the air flow is very dirty, so hopefully just tidying a few things up will help the racing.

"And increase the level of difficulty. At the moment the cars are very good to drive and the drivers drive them on the limit very hard. But there's not a lot of mistakes made.

"So if the car are harder to drive, you'll see a few mistakes and that can skittle the pack a little bit."

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