The key milestone reached in Gen3 prototype testing
Another milestone has been reached in the Gen3 project, with both prototypes clocking 1000 kilometres of running.
After Tuesday's test day, General Motors Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had completed 1363km of running.
Anton De Pasquale was behind the wheel of the Ford Mustang GT when it passed the 1000km marker on Friday morning.
It ensured both cars had reached the marker during the latest round of prototype testing, which continues at Queensland Raceway.
De Pasquale shared the Mustang with Will Davison. Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki took the reins of the Camaro.
It was announced Thursday that both Gen3 prototypes will make their first track appearance in Sydney.
Tickets went on sale for the season-opening Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight on Thursday.
Testing to date has been centred on the reliability of the cars, with new parts being tried and tested.
Supercars motorsport head Adrian Burgess is pleased with the progress of the Gen3 programme.
"The testing programme is going well," Burgess told Supercars.com.
"The last test day on Tuesday saw the Camaro nudge over the 1000-kilometre mark. Everything is going according; the Ford did today as well.
"We are gradually signing off on a lot of the componentry that we need to.
"We are tuning the car, we aren’t looking for lap time yet, we're just making sure the things are reliable and we have a balance.
"We are still experiencing the normal sort of growing pains that you expect when you build a new car from the ground up.
"We've got a couple of issues that we're still dealing with, but we've got the smartest brains in the paddock working on them.
Zane Goddard has driven both Gen3 prototypes
"I've got no worry or stress that we won't get them fixed in time."
Sampling different circuits is a key component of the Gen3 testing programme, along with giving a variety of drivers a chance to steer the new cars.
With testing continuing throughout the year, Burgess explained the next steps of the programme.
"We're going to try and cycle as many drivers as we can, and we have engineers here from other teams," Burgess continued.
"We want to get as many people as possible from the paddock involved and onboard, which everybody is.
"It's a great programme, which I'm glad to be involved in.
"After Queensland Raceway we will go to Victoria, where we can get some of the Victorian teams and their drivers through the car, and their engineers contributing and getting involved in the programme.
"Traditionally, Winton's been a little bit harder on the transmissions, so it will just give us a different set of data and a different group of considerations for the car to go through.
"It's a different track layout too, so we can test brakes and tyres and try to get the car in the window in terms of what we need.
"Then after Winton, we will be headed to Sydney Motorsport Park.
“We've got a good high-speed Turn 1 and a high degradation circuit. It'll be interesting there to see how the cars respond.
"Then eventually we will go to Tassie, and we're going to the Grand Prix so we've got a full programme.
"Once we get through all this, we will have had nearly all the drivers through the car and given everybody good access to come and see what we're doing and get involved."
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 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Sydney in March. CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.
