EXCLUSIVE: WHERE AND WHEN MUSTANG WILL TEST

In a surprise move, the first major test outing for Ford’s Mustang Supercars racer will be at Phillip Island later this week.

By MARK FOGARTY

Following a shakedown run in south-east Queensland, the DJR Team Penske-built Mustang prototype will be transported south for as many as two days of testing at the oceanside circuit.

It was a closely held secret that the Mustang’s initial serious track trials would be conducted at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit rather than DJRTP’s normal test venue, Queensland Raceway.

AUTO ACTION has not only learned where the Ford coupe’s maiden test will be held, but also when.

Amid tight security, DJRTP will put the Mustang through its paces at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit at the end of this week.

Separate sources have nominated this coming Friday, November 9, and again on Saturday, November 10, with both days most likely.

AA has further confirmed that the Phillip Island track has been booked for closed testing on Friday and Saturday.

The latest issue of AUTO ACTION revealed details of the test car’s near completion and plans for up to six days of private testing before official homologation trials.

The first Mustang-bodied Supercar has been assembled by DJR Team Penske, which is leading the development project in conjunction with Tickford Racing and Ford Performance in Detroit.

The trial horse will complete shakedown laps at an undisclosed venue in south-east Queensland before being despatched to Phillip Island, arriving in time to start serious testing at the end of the week.

The Island running will be a closed test not open to the public or media, with the Mustang prototype set to appear in a ‘neutral’ Ford Australia-designed camouflage livery.

AA understands the colour scheme will replicate the mottled white-and-blue effect used in a computer-generated teaser image released by Ford Australia on social media last month.

The close-cropped look at the right front of the racer displays a camouflage design utilising multiple outlines of the iconic Mustang badge.

The latest issue of AUTO ACTION revealed that the Mustang prototype is scheduled to complete up to six test days before the title-deciding Newcastle 500 in just under three weeks.

Undertaking initial serious testing at Phillip Island is a surprise that makes sense, with the fast and flowing 4.4 km Island course generating more valid high-speed aerodynamic feedback that will be crucial to the final body kit design.

The Mustang’s shape will be finalised at Supercars’ official straight-line aerodynamic parity test at the end of this month or early December.

Downforce and drag are measured in coast-down runs from 200-0 km/h on an airfield runway.

The Mustang will be joined by a ZB Commodore and Nissan Altima to establish a baseline comparison.

The solo test at Phillip Island will also be overseen by Supercars technical officials.

It is expected that Scott McLaughlin will be behind the wheel for the important occasion.

McLaughlin told AUTO ACTION before retaining his championship points lead at Pukekohe at the weekend that he couldn’t wait to try the Mustang.

“I know when I am driving it and I am excited about it,” McLaughlin said. “I have seen the designs and I think it’s going to rock the Supercars world. It’s going to be very cool and it’s certainly going to get a few heads turning.”

He added that he expected the clean-sheet design to be a major advance on the pensionable Falcon FG X.

“For us as a team, with Ludo (Lacroix, Mustang design project leader) onboard and all the engineers we have got that have been together for the last year-and-a-half, for them to have a reset and be able to build a brand-new car is very exciting and they can put all their ideas into one.

“For the last couple of years, we’ve been racing a car that someone else built and adding to it along the way. So having a refresh, original ideas, having a crack, I think it’s going to be fast.”

According to an insider who has seen computer renderings, the appearance of the Supercars Mustang will delight Ford fans.

“It looks good, looks tough,” our informant said.

The Mustang is the first two-door coupe in the Supercars era, as allowed under the Gen2 rules since 2017.

Switching from the aging Falcon FG X to the Mustang in 2019 marks Broadmeadows’ limited return to Supercars, from which it withdrew factory support at the end of 2015.

As already outlined in the latest issue of AA, the Mustang test car began to take on a recognisable form when key body panels were hung on the Supercars-spec chassis on October 25.

Ford Australia is set to release images of the completed Mustang racer in its ‘camo’ livery to the media later this week ahead of the Phillip Island test.

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