UPDATE: The first version of this article included comments from Brodie Kostecki who believed he had an issue with a steering rack manufactured by Tickford Racing. These comments have since been removed after Erebus Motorsport and Tickford Racing clarified that the issue was with an upright.
The supercars initially launched the Gen3 with a Sportech steering rack, but they proved problematic throughout 2023 and into 2024.
Tickford Racing built their own version which some teams have adopted this year and the brackets could become standard on all cars on the grid.
Eponymous team owner Matt Stone, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Carl Faux and Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jamie Whincup appeared at Friday’s team principals press conference.
Stone and Faux confirmed that they had tried both steering racks with varying degrees of success.
Whincup said work on the Sportech rack would continue, but indicated the category could move permanently towards the Tickford-built equivalent. That sentiment was echoed by Stone.
“There’s been a lot of talk about steering racks since the introduction of Gen3,” Whincup said.
“I don’t have any shares in either, I just want the best product in the category. I like the fact that the Tickford rack is made by a charter holder and that it’s made in-house, which is nice.
“Our aim is to get the most out of the Sportech rack for Supercars. We’ve made some progress, but Tickford is obviously doing the same.
“It’s a big debate within the committees at the moment as to which is the best mount and once we have that established we will determine how and when it can be implemented if the Tickford mount proves to be better than the Sportech.”
Whincup said Triple Eight had tested the Tickford-built rack and given feedback which led to significant improvements while Stone said he was “a fan” of the alternative rack.
“In terms of performance and driving feel, there’s not a big difference between the two,” Stone said.
“Obviously the Tickford rack is made in Australia, by Supercars people, made to a standard that we’re much more used to – and for me I think the deciding factor is reliability.
“In our experience, the Sportech rack works well, but it can suffer an unexpected failure that you can’t predict. The Tickford rack seems much more robust.”