Supercars has confirmed the Gen3 General Motors Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang will run with a manual sequential gear shift system when the cars make their racing debut in 2023. Two-time championship winner Shane van Gisbergen had been a vocal opponent of the proposed paddle shift system.
The Camaro and Mustang prototypes have both been in action at Queensland Raceway recently completing testing, with both cars now past the 1000km millage milestone, with a number of drivers getting behind the wheel.
Both prototypes made their public debut at Bathurst last year, where Anton De Pasquale and Shane van Gisbergenn completed demonstration laps.
The gear system was one of the key questions surrounding Gen3 development.
The Gen3 Steering Committee decided Gen3 would continue with the current manual system after it became clear that it was the fans preferred option.
“Following the early rounds of testing in the prototypes, and unanimous support from the Gen3 Steering Committee, I can confirm the Camaro and Mustang will race using the current fully manual gear shift for 2023 and beyond,” Supercars CEO Shane Howard said.
“We strongly considered the overwhelming feedback from our fans, teams and drivers that the gear change mechanism and the commensurate skill required to down change properly cannot be lost in Supercars unique heat of battle on-track.
“We have always celebrated the difficulty that comes with driving a Supercar. The shifting of gears has become part of the artform required to succeed in our category.
“We’re very happy with the decision of the Gen3 Steering Committee and can now move forward with further Gen3 development.”
The Gen3 prototypes will complete more testing later this month, before making their first appearance in Sydney, for demonstration runs at the season-opening round.
The Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight will kick off the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship.
Main image: Supercars