Why Courtney believes Gen3 will favour veteran drivers

James Courtney believes the lower-downforce Gen3 cars will favour the veteran drivers of Supercars when the new cars debut in 2023.

Tickford Racing driver Courtney was present at the latest round of Gen3 prototype testing at Queensland Raceway.

The 2010 champion was sharing the Ford Mustang GT with Tim Slade. Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney took the reins of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

The Gen3 cars feature a large downforce reduction in comparison to their Gen3 predecessors.

It’s a marked difference to current-spec cars, which feature large amounts of downforce.

For recently-engaged Courtney, who made his debut in 2005, the Gen3 cars will be more in tune with the cars of yesteryear, which were notoriously harder to drive.

As such, Courtney believes that will play into the hands of the veterans of the category, who emerged in Supercars driving cars bereft of downforce.

"It’s a very different car to what we’ve been used to," Courtney told Supercars.com.

"The grip levels feel very similar to what we had in 2008, which is good for guys like myself, [Mark] Winterbottom, [Will] Davison, Shane.

"The new guys don’t know what the lack of downforce is all about.

"It’s a good thing. It’s great to get some more running today."

The Gen3 Mustang and Camaro have already received the tick of approval from drivers.

'It’s great to get some more running today'

Notably, Davison - who made his debut in 2004 - said the new "different beast" Gen3 cars are a "handful".

"You're busy behind the wheel, but it's kind of exciting,” Davison told Supercars.com.

"It's a very, very different machine, very different beast, a lot of different componentry in the cars to what any of us has ever used before.

'"It's different, it's an absolutely different animal, a different beast, there are different sensations for anything I've experienced in the 15 years in the game."

Brown, who is nearly 20 years Courtney and Davison’s junior, was impressed by the drivability of the new cars.

Testing at Queensland Raceway proved beneficial for Courtney, who first raced at the circuit in 2006. He also won his first race there in 2008.

'It’s a very different car to what we’ve been used to'

Having raced at the technical high-speed circuit for over a decade - and having tested there in his Stone Brothers Racing days - Courtney felt a noticeable difference when he stepped into the Gen3 Mustang.

"The grip level’s a lot lower with the aero balance," Courtney explained.

"The car moves around so much more through Turn 1 and 2 here at Ipswich; they’re quite high-speed corners.

"You’re losing the rear, whereas you’re driving the current cars with a lot of understeer.

"Also without a [large] rear downforce, there’s a lot of rear locking so the car’s moving around a lot.

"It’s fun to drive something different. The cars have changed a lot in my time in the category.

"This car is hard to drive, but it’s fun."

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