There have now been two serious engine fires in as many days, both in Ford Mustangs from different teams.
Yesterday it was Nick Percat’s Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford that caught fire early in the race, while today James Courtney’s Tickford Mustang was badly burnt by what appears to be an identical problem.
The second fire has now caused tension in the paddock with concerns for driver safety.
The Gen3 Supercars run a completely new engine package than their predecessors, with a move to more production-based Ford and Chevrolet V8 units.
The origin of the fires has not yet been determined, and WAU was convinced that the problem in the Percat car was electrical from a control sensor.
However, Supercars was not convinced, issuing a directive to teams today suggesting that the “BF1 TPMS ECU”, which is part of the tire pressure monitoring systems, was not at fault.
Instead, the series warned teams to check oil levels and drain catch cans before today’s race, which failed to prevent Courtney’s fire.
The second fire has now caused tension in the paddock with concerns for driver safety.
In the wake of the fire, the Tickford garage was filled with senior technical staff from almost every rival team, as well as the likes of Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess and engine specialist Craig Hasted.
Since then, members of the technical working group have met to discuss the issue.
Burgess declined to comment on the matter when approached by Motorsport.com this evening.
Tickford chief executive Tim Edwards did comment, though he stopped short of presenting a solid theory, except to say it wasn’t related to the oil tank or catch can, and that it appeared it was triggered by an electrical problem.
“None,” when asked if there were any clues as to what happened.
“Lots of theories, everybody’s got theories. It’s obviously the same thing that happened to Nick’s car.
“We checked the catch canister before the race and there was nothing there.
“I think the origin came from electricity, but we don’t know.”
Although Courtney is out of tomorrow’s race, Edwards admitted he is concerned about putting his other three drivers back in cars that could suffer the same problem.
“Yes,” he said when asked if he was concerned about the driver’s safety. “Anyway, the Technical Working Group is meeting right now. Let’s let all the smart people discuss it.”
As for Courtney’s car parked for the weekend, Edwards said, “We don’t have half the parts to fix it. We’re going to wash it and put it on a flatbed and take it to the factory.”
