Delivery of first Gen3 chassis confirmed
The Gen3 project is set to reach a major milestone this month, with the first completed chassis to be delivered to a Supercars team.
Development of the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang has been progressing ahead of their introduction to the Repco Supercars Championship in 2023.
Now, PACE Innovations, one of four chassis builders committed to manufacturing the next generation of Supercar, has completed construction of its first space frame chassis, with delivery scheduled for mid-August.
Brad Jones Racing is slated to take ownership of their first Gen3 chassis when the championship heads to Melbourne for this month’s Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint.
The chassis marks the first of 16 to be built by PACE, with the Yatala-based manufacturer to supply to a majority of the current Repco Supercars Championship field.
The engineering company will supply complete spaceframes along with kits and materials to teams wishing to build their own cars.
Walkinshaw Andretti United, Erebus Motorsport, and Triple Eight Race Engineering will construct their own chassis.
Erebus and WAU received their chassis kits from PACE this week, including all the parts required to build a complete Gen3 chassis.
PACE Innovations owner Paul Ceprnich gave an update on the rollout of the chassis, outlining the delivery process to teams requiring multiple chassis.
“The first car is completed and is a Brad Jones car,” Ceprnich told Supercars.com.
“It's completed here and awaiting delivery; it's going to probably go in the Supercars truck to Sandown. I believe they are helping us with the delivery.
BJR will take ownership of the first PACE-built Gen3 chassis this month
“Basically, we have 16 chassis to build, and it will be a continuous process now, sort of tapering down to a car every six or seven days, with a final car being delivered sometime in the middle of November.
“All the teams that we are supplying will get their first car first, and then the bigger teams will get their second car.
“Then it will be a continuous programme with the biggest teams, which are BJR and Tickford getting their fourth car last.
“The production schedule has been around for the past year, nothing has really changed, we are just working with a shorter timeframe.”
Approval of controlled componentry continues to ramp up with Supercars’ Gen3 project team completing testing the Gen3 oil system at Tailem Bend last week.
The new-look refuelling system was examined during a shakedown at Queensland Raceway earlier this month.
The delivery of PACE’s first chassis marks the completion of a two-year-long process of the new Gen3 cars from design to construction.
“For our team, I guess the most important part is the planning,” Ceprnich continued.
“The deliveries of the products, whether they be kits or completed chassis builds, or partial chassis builds, scheduling that, and the logistics involved when the parts are ready.
“Whether it be for kits or full production it is really important for us as far as keeping our customers all happy and being fair to everyone is probably really important.
“From a technical point of view, the accuracy of the chassis and making sure that we have consistency over the accuracy, and that we are as close as possible to what's been specified, that's really the most key factor.”
The Gen3 Camaro and Mustang will debut in the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship.
On-track exhibitions of the Gen3 cars will be carried out at Supercars events throughout 2022.
The 2022 season will resume at Sandown on August 19-21. Purchase your tickets now.
