What successful Supercars wind tunnel test means for 2026

Supercars and the three homologation teams are returning to Australia having concluded a successful fortnight of testing in the United States.

Over the weekend, Supercars, Triple Eight Race Engineering (Ford), Team 18 (General Motors) and Walkinshaw Andretti United (Toyota) wrapped up a gruelling 10 days of running at the Windshear facility.

By the end of the testing, the efforts of all parties delivered the desired outcome: Supercars and the teams declared parity, well before the start of the 2026 season.

Not only were the Supra, Mustang and Camaro in the ‘parity box’ — a graph that combines downforce and drag measurements — Supercars set out to increase the level of focus by adding alignment of the specific characteristics.

All told, Supercars set out to achieve an increased level of aerodynamic parity, and with support of the teams, it was achieved.

So, what happened, and what does it mean for the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship?

The background

As drivers and teams celebrated a big season, representatives from Supercars, Triple Eight, Team 18 and WAU set off on a three-week combined trip off the back of Adelaide.

While we prepared for our Christmas breaks, those at Windshear worked through 18-hour days, with three cars spending over 50 hours in the state-of-the-art facility.

With aerodynamic consultants Dynamique watching on, Supercars and the teams aimed high, and achieved findings and an overall outcome that sets up a three-way fight in 2026.

The findings

Supercars embarked on its first trip to Windshear at the end of 2023 with the Mustang and the Camaro, and jammed in testing across three days.

That 2023 test delivered a competitive 2024 season, before 2025 blew it out of the park with a stunning championship fight that went down to the final day. Additionally, 2025 had the closest manufacturer battle — Chevrolet winning 17 races to Ford’s 16 — for over 20 years.

Supercars, Triple Eight, Team 18 and WAU worked together to achieve an increased level of aerodynamic parity, through refined processes and a greater level of focus on aerodynamic sensitivities.

While the Camaro was initially the baseline, additional findings found that the Mustang and the Supra were able to align more easily on front ride height sensitivity.

Throughout the latest testing, the Mustang was found to have a peakier front ride height sensitivity, resulting in more front downforce at low front ride heights, and less at higher front ride heights, relative to the Camaro.

Conversely, the Camaro also had more forward aero balance than expected, had a flatter front ride height sensitivity, with less front downforce at low front ride heights and more front downforce at higher front ride heights.

The Camaro was re-run to meet the Mustang’s output, helping Supercars and the teams find a direction to implement changes.

The outcome

The new focus resulted in minor aerodynamic changes to both the Mustang and Camaro, to align the sensitivities and weighted parity. It also led to the alignment and homologation of the new Supra.

All three cars were homologated at a wing angle of 10 degrees.

On the Camaro, a partial new design of front undertray skid blocks was agreed upon, as was a new add-on undertray infill.

On the Mustang, the boot spoiler/decklid was adjusted to a new lower height, the side skirt leading edge packer was reinstalled, and the rear wing angle increased to 10 degrees.

The Supra, meanwhile, has also undergone subtle tweaks. However, the car that completed demonstration laps at the final events of 2025 wasn’t a homologated specification, hence what was agreed on at Windshear will lend itself to the final product.

The aftermath

Supercars and the homologation teams raised the bar from what was undertaken in 2023, and given how competitive the last two seasons were, the latest results indicate that 2026 will be the closest fought season ever.

While much of the focus was getting the new Supra up to speed, the combined effort saw the Camaro and Ford adjusted throughout the testing to ensure there were no discrepancies.

With the three cars now aerodynamically aligned, engine parity testing is next on the agenda.

With aero locked in, the teams quickly shifted their attention to do their “racing on the race track,” as coined by Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton.

Supercars Chief Motorsport Officer Tim Edwards hailed the sacrifices and efforts of all involved, and praised the sharper focus on working to even finer tolerances than though possible.

“We’ve got parity, and we've got three HTs that are very happy with the results,” Edwards said.

“You can almost say it's a minor miracle because we set the bar so much higher than when we came here last time.

“We focused on downforce and drag last time we were here. This time, we added a whole sensitivity band to it, and we managed to achieve that as well.

“We now know we've got aerodynamic parity, and to a much, much finer tolerance than we had when we were here last time.”