Feeney expecting bigger delta between primary, co-drivers with Gen3

Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney is expecting a bigger gap between the primary drivers and co-drivers come this year’s Supercars enduros given the changeover to Gen3.

As always, the co-driver field for the Repco Bathurst 1000, and once again the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 which precedes it, is a mixture comprised predominantly of past Championship full-timers and youngsters from the Dunlop Super2 Series.

The former bunch could draw upon several years of experience in Supercars of the same or similar specification while the latter were gaining that experience in the months out from the Great Race.

Gen3, however, arguably represents a major change and it is highly unlikely that any co-drivers will have raced in the new breed before the Sandown 500.

Feeney is again partnered this year by Triple Eight Race Engineering Team Principal and four-time Bathurst 1000-winning driver, Jamie Whincup, who debuted at the end of the original ‘V8 Supercars’ era before almost two decades spanning the entirety of Project Blueprint and most of Car of the Future (including Gen2).

Whincup’s successor in Car #88 said, “I think this year there might actually be a bit more of a difference between the main and co’s because these new cars are quite different to drive, so I think as many laps as the co-drivers can get will only help.

“There’s 600 points up for grabs in two races and they’re a big part for that.

“I still think I’ve got the best guy in my corner for that, thankfully, and I just really enjoy working with him.

“I feel like he lifts all of us in our team and just makes us push that little bit more, so I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be a fun enduro campaign, but we’ve still got a long way to go until then.”

All of the Queensland-based teams, plus Brad Jones Racing, tested in the past week.

Whincup noted ahead of Triple Eight’s trip out to Ipswich that he lacked ‘muscle memory’ in Gen3, but his needs would have to be balanced against performance running for the team.

Speaking during the test, he said, “It’s like the first day of school again, learning a new trick.

“So, laps today for me, just to familiarise myself, get some muscle memory, even for where all the buttons are, how the car feels when it locks up, how it reacts to kerbs and bumps… that’s my programme.”

Triple Eight will field three Camaros in the enduros, and also at this month’s Betr Darwin Triple Crown, with the expansion of the Supercheap Auto wildcard programme.

Feeney, Shane van Gisbergen, and Zane Goddard in the wildcard entry, will race at Hidden Valley on June 16-18.