MOTORSPORT: It's go, go, go for FG X Falcon race car

A week before the V8 Supercar official pre-season test, Ford's last Falcon, the FG X, has been given the green light to race.

Three FG Xs will appear at what is being billed as a two-day "Super Test" at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 7-8.

They will be the Falcons that Bathurst 1000-winning drivers of the past two years, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, and homecoming Ford hero Marcos Ambrose will race for DJR Team Penske in this year's V8 Supercar Championship starting at Adelaide's Clipsal 500 from February 26 to March 1.

Prodrive Racing Australia (PRA), formerly Ford Performance Racing, intends to introduce more FG Xs during the year for David Reynolds and the newly-entered New Zealand team Super Black Racing fielding young Kiwi driver Andre Heimgartner.

But Ford Australia has already said it won't support any Blue Oval entries in V8 Supercars beyond this season as the company moves closer to ceasing production of road cars here.

Which manufacturer or manufacturers PRA and DJR Penske represent in 2016 is up in the air, and even more so from 2017, when Australia's premier motor racing category will be opened to smaller-capacity, perhaps turbocharged cars, with coupes set to be allowed too, alongside the traditional four-door, 5-litre V8s.

The FG X Falcon was approved for racing after a week of aerodynamic tests at the RAAF base at sale in Victoria, but little detail on the car has been released.

It is believed that its rear wing will sit further back and higher than on the older Falcons.

Holden's VF Commodores and Nissan's Altimas will have aerodynamic tweaks this season, but Volvo Polestar and Betty Klimenko's Erebus Mercedes squad elected not to participate in this year's homologation process.

An announcement on the Sale testing said that the V8 Supercars technical team "cross-referenced the historical data of the Volvo S60 and the E63 Mercedes with that captured during the [latest] homologation".

An FG X Falcon from PRA, a VF Commodore from Triple Eight Race Engineering and one of the four Altimas from the Kelly Brothers/Nissan Motorsport stable as well as V8 Supercars' own prototype FG Falcon ran at Sale as officials sought to ensure parity this season.

Winterbottom, Reynolds and development series driver and endurance co-driver Cameron Waters drove the FG X, new Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport driver Nick Percat the Triple Eight Commodore, Todd Kelly the Altima and development series driver Todd Hazelwood the prototype.

"The week went very smoothly," V8 Supercars sporting and technical director David Stuart said.

"The processes and equipment we introduced at the mid-year evaluation last year certainly provided us with additional information to achieve the result.

"The three participating teams had a very positive approach to the process and worked really well together with the technical team.

"The level of competition in 2014 was the closest in the history of V8 Supercars and we have every expectation that will be the case again this year, if not even closer, based on the improved process and the information we gathered."

PRA team principal Tim Edwards said the Sale exercise was "a step in the right direction in our development of the new car".

"With the homologation complete we are looking forward to seeing what the car can do at the Super Test next week," Edwards said.

"We've been developing the FG X for some time so the opportunity to get the car on the track is exciting.

"The progress we have seen so far is encouraging, so we are hoping to see further developments prior to the first round."

The changes to the Commodore rear wing were developed by Holden Motorsport's technical manager Peter Harker and Triple Eight's technical chief Ludo Lacroix but apparently co-ordinated with the Lion's other three teams – Holden Racing Team, Brad Jones Racing and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

The aerodynamic modifications in the third homologation of the Altima are said to include a side-mounted rear wing.

"There's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to refine the aero testing procedures, and V8 Supercars' technical department has done a great job with the homologation process," Todd Kelly said.

"It was good to have an opportunity to further refine the aero package on the Altima V8.

"With everything ticked off we now look forward to getting on to the track at the Super Test and seeing how all of the cars go."

Admission to the weekend's testing is free and all 25 cars and drivers will compete in a "Super Shootout" on the Sunday – with a grand prize of $2500 for the winner.

Picture courtesy of V8 Supercars.com.au