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Ford's V8 elder statesman John Bowe has accused Holden's drivers of arrogance, saying they already have an unfair advantage over their Ford rivals at the V8 championship opener, the Clipsal 500.
Holden driver Jason Bright had said after Commodores took out the top four places in the Australian Grand Prix the Ford teams needed to lift their games. Bright said if Marcos Ambrose didn't win then, there would be no one from a Ford team to back him up.
Bowe hit back this week saying the Ford teams were doing the best job they could with what they had to work with, and the criticism by Holden drivers was a slur on their efforts.
"We know the standout Ford team is Stone Brothers Racing and the standout driver is Marcos Ambrose, and he won last year's championship against the odds," Bowe said.
"While the Holden teams reckon there's only one Ford team out there, I know how much effort, research and money we're all putting into it. There's no bunny teams and no bunny drivers in this category.
"For Holden teams to say no other Ford team is doing a good job smacks of arrogance.
"I think it's a bit much when they've got a good car, to be putting other teams down."
According to Bowe, the Holden's aero package gives as much as 20 per cent more rear downforce, a considerable advantage when qualifying times are split by tenths of seconds.
Under V8 Supercars' Project Blueprint, the Ford Falcon BA and Holden Commodore VY are supposed to have the same amount of aerodynamic and mechanical grip.
Bowe said the result of the V8 Supercar races at the Australian Grand Prix -- the V8 equivalent of football's Wizard Cup -- showed the balance would need to be restored if the championship was to end up anything other than a Holden whitewash.
"If a car's got 15-20 per cent extra downforce it makes a huge difference to tyre life and car balance," Bowe said.
"Our car does not have enough rear downforce compared to the Holden. Their (rear) wing is wider. I don't know how or when it can be fixed but it needs to be fixed.
"All the top Holden teams have VY Commodores now and you can tell from the Grand Prix it works.
"I've got nothing against Holden or any of the drivers. Some of my friends drive Holdens. But if we're going to have equality, let's have equality.
"I challenge them to bring the cars to Monash Windtunnel and it would show it. If I'm wrong I'll publicly apologise."
But Holden Racing Team driver Mark Skaife said testing between the Falcon and Commodore showed the two cars were competitive.
"It sounds like a Ford driver whose car isn't good enough to me," Skaife said. "Saying he has hasn't enough grip is top of the driver excuse book.
"There's no reason (for a change) because Marcos Ambrose has the same aero kit as Bowe, and you couldn't say he's got a disadvantage -- he won last year's championship."
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