Triple Eight Race Engineering founder Roland Dane has described 2022 the “best ever” year in the team’s history.
Dane co-founded Triple Eight in the United Kingdom with Derek Warwick and Ian Harrison in 1996 before branching out to Australia in 2003 to compete in what is now known as the Supercars Championship.
Having led the squad to nine Drivers’ Championships and 10 Teams’ Championships, he retired at the end of 2021, selling his remaining shares in Triple Eight.
Tony Quinn is now the largest shareholder at 40 percent, while Dane’s daughter — Jessica — and seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup are also co-owners, the latter in the role of Managing Director.
In its first season without ‘RD’, Triple Eight achieved a historical feat, winning every major Supercars accolade on offer.
That was the Supercars Teams’ Championship for Red Bull Ampol Racing, Shane van Gisbergen’s Drivers’ Championship as well as his and Garth Tander’s Bathurst 1000 victory, and the Dunlop Super2 Series title with Declan Fraser.
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Speaking on the final episode of the KTM Summer Grill, Dane stamped 2022 as “the best [year] ever, really” for his team in its nearly three decades of establishment.
“From a Supercars point of view, there are four main goals you can kick: Bathurst, Teams’ Championship, Drivers’ Championship, and the Super2 title,” he said.
“Although we’ve won them all in my time, we’d never won them all in the same year — we’ve won three a few times, but never four.
“That was a big goal to kick for Jamie and Jessica and the rest of the team.
“Then the GT element of it, where we won the Teams’ Championship in Asia, won the Pro-Am championship up there with Prince Jefri, and came third in the championship down here in Australia.
“There was a lot going on, and I helped a little bit where I could, and of course, the highlight for me was running the car at the [Bathurst] 12 Hour for Kenny Habul with Triple Eight that won that race as well.”
Van Gisbergen said earlier in the Summer Grill season that his boss Whincup has started to make his impact in a management role.
Asked whether the new structure still sort guidance, Dane Snr responded: “They do.
“Jamie will call me once a week about a particular thing or something just for some input.
“He’s still finding his way, finding his feet as a Team Principal and Managing Director of what is the biggest race team in Australia, probably by some margin.
“He’s finding his way still so I’m happy to offer it, but I don’t give it unless I’m asked.
“I’m sure there will be times when he looks back and says ‘I wish I’d asked about that’ but he’s got to find his own way.
“We’ve all made a mistake — only the liars haven’t made a mistake in developing in that sort of position.
“There will be some pitfalls along the way, but they do ask for advice, yeah.”
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