TRIPLE Eight Race Engineering is leaving no stone unturned in its quest for a record-breaking 11th Supercars teams’ championship.
A tactical ploy that flew under the radar late in the recent Repco Bathurst 1000 proves as much.
In a juggling act as it also managed its ailing #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro to the finish line to secure victory, Triple Eight also had eyes for salvaging whatever points it possibly could with its #88.
That was after heartbreak struck for Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup, who were running second before suffering a broken gearshift tower, forcing a lengthy visit to the garage.
It was in fact the very same issue that had struck down the squad’s #888 wildcard entry for Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard in the Great Race’s early stages.
What went largely unnoticed, however, was that Triple Eight pitted its wildcard in the closing stages to help Feeney gain one position. Feeney/Whincup ultimately finished 19 laps down and Lowndes/Goddard 20 laps down.
The difference that made? A mere six points; 72 is awarded for 23rd and 66 for 24th.
But with Triple Eight trailing Erebus Motorsport by 179 points with two rounds remaining and thus a maximum of 1152 points left on the table, every little gain matters (and only the #88 and #97’s scores count, not the #888).
Feeney is almost certainly of contention for the drivers’ championship now, but is just 18 points behind future teammate Will Brown in the battle for third.
Whincup spoke glowingly about the team’s Bathurst effort despite its mixed fortunes.
“To have two cars in contention for a podium, if not a one-two, is just a true credit to everybody,” said Triple Eight’s managing director.
“It didn’t go our way for #88 and I’m gutted for Broc and the #88 team because they deserved more after the fantastic week they had, but as a team we won the Bathurst 1000 so we should still hold our heads very, very high.
“To win this race is not about having the quickest car, it’s about all the one-percenters and all the attention to detail to make this a great team.
“It’s pretty special to win 10 Bathurst 1000s in 20 years. To come to this Great Race that’s so easy to lose and to win 50 percent of the time is massive, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Despite a rough 30th Bathurst 1000, Lowndes was also upbeat upon reflection.
“I do have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been with a team who worked so hard for such a little result,” said Lowndes.
“I think we might’ve set a new record for the amount of times we came in and out of the pits. In the end, with all the gear linkage problems we also lost sixth gear as well.
“It was a disappointing result, however overall, the team worked unbelievably hard to get us the result we did.
“Zane also worked incredibly hard, we didn’t put a foot wrong. I think if we had our time over again, we had a car that could’ve made the top six, in that sense there is a slight disappointment, however, we all worked damn hard to achieve the result we did.”
Lowndes is under contract with Triple Eight until the end of 2025.
Who he partners in next year’s enduros remains to be seen, with the team’s other combinations set to be Feeney/Whincup and Brown/Scott Pye.
