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What WAU made of 2020 engine test

14 Aug 2019
WAU hail 'positive' 2020 engine test for Supercars
2 mins by James Pavey
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Mobil 1 MEGA Racing co-team principal Mathew Nilsson has declared plenty of lessons were taken from their Supercars engine test at Winton.

The team held the test for Supercars with co-driver Jack Perkins and John Martin sharing a Commodore, the latter spending the majority of the time in the car.

It follows Triple Eight conducting a similar test of their own on behalf of Supercars last month at Queensland Raceway, to evaluate a drive-by-wire system for potential inclusion next year.

Nilsson on the whole felt their track time yesterday, of more than 100 laps, had been a worthwhile exercise.

“From the objectives of the test, the reports are very positive: lots of things learnt both for drive-by-wire throttle and the category as a whole in terms of ECU things and MoTeC parameters and bits and pieces,” he told Supercars.com.

“I wouldn’t say it was seamless … that’s the whole purpose of the test, for ourselves and the category.

“There’s a few little bits and pieces that they have been able to identify or resolve on the day or things to go away and work on; that’s what testing is all about.”

The proposed changes will involve a small reduction in horsepower in a bid to increase durability and thus cut costs. In turn that is targeted at improving sustainability for teams.

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Walkinshaw Andretti United and Triple Eight have tested their own versions of a drive-by-wire throttle system.

“Drive-by-wire throttle gives opportunities in the future for things but ultimately it’s developing a package that for the teams help reduce costs and the likes,” Nilsson added.

“It is not a performance issue the fans will notice which Supercars have been clear on.”

Walkinshaw’s focus will return to racing at the OTR SuperSprint on August 23-25 as they chase a step forward in results.

The team has failed to finish in the top 10 with either James Courtney or Scott Pye in the past five races.

“Performance-wise, we need significant improvement,” Nilsson said rather bluntly.

“We’re aware of that and are working through solutions.”

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