Team manager Mark Dutton has explained the strategic puzzle that caused tension within Triple Eight during the early stages of the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000.
The eventual winning #97 Shane van Gisbergen/Richie Stanaway entry undercut the sister #88 Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup car during the first round of pitstops.
#88 was forced to stack behind #97 under two subsequent Safety Car periods, severely hampering the car that had led the early stages of the race.
Speaking in the post-race press conference, van Gisbergen had noted the importance of the move – and the tense atmosphere within the team early in the race.
“The stacking risk here is killer,” he said after the first Bathurst 1000 run with the Gen3 cars, which feature bigger fuel tanks and a slower refuelling rate than their predecessors.
“We had to get in front of #88 and it wasn’t a real nice atmosphere at the start of the race, you know, working out strategies to try and get in front of your teammates so you don’t have to stack.
“But that’s the fill time of this car, and once we had that that pit priority, there was no dramas; we were away.”
Dutton described the strategy scenario as “super difficult” and stressed that the team had not tried to favour the #97, which was running fourth when it pitted for the first time on lap 23.
“The first stop was not an intentional undercut,” Dutton told V8 Sleuth. “#97 did the right thing and stopped to get out of queuing risk (if there had been a Safety Car).
“Obviously the amount of fuel you can put in at that time is different to the amount of fuel you can put in when you stop a bit later.”
#88 stopped under Safety Car on lap 27 and rejoined behind the under-fuelled #97. When the race’s second Safety Car was called on lap 39, Dutton made the key call to pit both cars.
#97 had to take on more fuel than the third-placed #99 Erebus entry of Brodie Kostecki/David Russell and lost the lead, while #88 stacked behind #97 and dropped into the pack.
“The Safety Car came at a most inopportune time, and you have to make a decision, what do you do then? #97 is in the lead with less fuel than #88,” explained Dutton.
“#88 is the current adjusted race leader, so the choice to make is send #97 past (pitting the next lap) and keep #88 in P1, so then you have one car in P1 and one car in (effectively) P-last.
“Or you do what we did and have one car in P2 (behind #99) and the other in P15, but with a few cars in there that are on different fuel strategies and you’re going to pass them and things.
“That tough decision falls on my shoulders.
“You have some people not happy with you during the race, but we’re all professionals and we all understand that we’re all part of one big team and clearly, deciding to put one of your cars to last is something that isn’t ideal, so we didn’t do that.
“It’s tough doing those ones, I must admit.”
The situation was compounded by yet another Safety Car on lap 71, under which #88 again stacked behind #97. It proved to be the last full-course yellow of the race.
On that occasion, the Kostecki/Russell Camaro – which was running between #97 and #88 – did not pit. In hindsight, that cost them dearly.
Car #88’s somewhat slim hopes of victory eventually evaporated when its gear shift tower broke while running second on lap 136.
At that time Feeney was five-seconds behind van Gisbergen and closing as the Kiwi struggled with new brakes, but the #97 still held a significant fuel advantage ahead of the final round of pitstops
As van Gisbergen explained: “(The team) said we had 15 seconds’ more fuel (than #88) – 10 to 15 – and I was five ahead of him.
“So, we were very heavy (put in a lot of fuel) at that (penultimate) stop because we did brakes, so he was pretty quick in that stint, but mainly because of (carrying less) fuel.
“I just wanted to stay in front so we kept the pit priority, but I knew that our stop was going to be shorter, so we would be okay.”
The result marked the third Bathurst 1000 victory in four years for van Gisbergen and the #97 garage, and the 10th for Triple Eight since 2006.
