Van Gisbergen responds to Supercars parity claims
Shane van Gisbergen has responded to "emotional" calls for a parity review from one of his Supercars rivals.
Shane van Gisbergen,Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Edge Photographics
Tickford Racing's Cam Waters went public with concerns over the aerodynamic performance of the Holden Commodore after yesterday's opening race at Symmons Plains.
His comments followed van Gisbergen's seventh-straight race win to extend what at the time was an unbeaten run in 2021.
Waters also referenced the engine upgrade coming for the KRE-powered Holden teams including the dominant Triple Eight outfit.
Van Gisbergen has since responded to the claims in an interview with Supercars Media, arguing that his purple patch has been helped by Sandown and Symmons Plains being T8-friendly circuits.
He also claimed that Tickford had its own engine upgrade last year that went unreported.
"I hate that kind of thing," said van Gisbergen.
"You don't have to go far back to look at Bathurst. We were lucky to win those races, [Waters] was the fastest car across the top of the hill where downforce matters.
"These tracks are really good for us. When we get to Tailem Bend we'll have some troubles, they'll be fast. And he forgets they had the engine thing last year, which didn't get reported. We're the ones that have been down [on power] for a year.
"It's hard to think logically when you're emotional about it, I've been through it before."
That last line is a reference to the fierce parity debate that rocked the category back in 2019.
The battle was sparked by the introduction of the new radical Ford Mustang, which quickly had its rivals up in arms over perceived aerodynamic and centre of gravity advantages.
There were centre of gravity changes made before the Symmons Plains round that year, followed by numerous tweaks to both the Ford and the Holden across the rest of the season.
Both cars then underwent fresh aero homologation before the 2020 season.
The Holden was given one aero change ahead of this season, though, with a vent added to the front wheel arches.
However that was supposedly made to resolve overheating issues rather than improve aerodynamic performance.
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