PODCAST: Crazy Dave on driving Gen3 Supercars

David Reynolds has lifted the lid on the ongoing challenges drivers face with the Gen3 Supercar platform, describing it as a “funny car and tyre” combination that continues to baffle teams up and down pit lane.

Speaking ahead of the Queensland Raceway round, Reynolds relayed to Supercars Travel Race for the Championship podcast’s Mark Fogarty the unpredictable nature of the current generation cars, where a driver can go from pole to 16th without fundamentally changing anything in their driving approach.

“It’s a really funny time in our sport,” he said.

“It wasn’t like that in the Gen1 or Gen2 era. Gen3 seems to be very strange at the minute. You can feel like a hero one day and a complete goose the next.”

The Team 18 driver, who secured a surprise pole position at the recent Townsville while recovering from illness, said the fine margins under the current regulations are unlike anything he’s experienced before.

“We’re down to not tenths anymore, not hundredths, mainly thousandths – and sometimes ten-thousandths – of a second,” he explained.

“It’s very easy for literally the blink of an eye to mean the difference.”

Reynolds also questioned the underlying principles behind car setup, calling it “voodoo” and a “black art” even after years in the sport.

“Even when I’ve been on pole or won the race with the fastest car, it still has understeer and oversteer,” he said.

“So is it balance we’re chasing or just pure grip? I don’t really know.”

While praising Team 18’s recent improvements and the buzz around becoming the GM homologation squad, Reynolds acknowledged there’s still work to be done to get on top of the Gen3 machinery. He’s hopeful that incoming technical guru Jeromy Moore – who was instrumental in designing the Camaro Supercar – can help unlock more performance.

“Hopefully he has a much more in-depth understanding of what it takes to get the most out of them,” Reynolds said.

“It’s really hard to do because there’s some fantastic teams and combinations out there who seem to understand it a bit better than we do right now.”

Despite the inconsistencies, Reynolds remains upbeat and eager to stay with the team long-term, but admits his future is still uncertain.

“My intention is to stay. I don’t like change,” he said.

“But obviously, I need my results to get better. That makes everything a lot easier.”