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Usually competing to be ahead of one another in Supercars, Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mates Broc Feeney and Shane van Gisbergen will be working together closer than ever at the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
The duo are sharing the team’s #888 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Prince Jefri Ibrahim at this weekend’s 12 Hour.
While van Gisbergen is no stranger to the once around the clock race in various machinery, it will be Feeney’s first experience of Mount Panorama in a GT3 car.
The Supercars rookie says the opportunity to work even more closely with van Gisbergen, who is the class of the field in Supercars at the moment, will benefit him greatly.
“I don’t know how much we’re going to be able to relate from the GT3 car to a Supercar,” Feeney told Speedcafe.com.
“We’ll obviously be working together super closely this weekend to make sure we get a great result as a team.
“When we’re away racing [in Supercars] we’re trying to focus on ourselves in our own cars but this weekend we’re making sure we can get Triple Eight up as high as we can.
“I’m just excited to race in general. It’s been a crazy few weeks so I haven’t had much time to think about it but it’s going to be a great weekend.
“I think pairing up with Shane and Prince Jefri is a great opportunity for myself to race with those guys.
“Doing laps at Bathurst is the main thing to gain experience in a 12-hour endurance race, more laps in a GT3 car and race some of the best guys in Australia.
“It’s going to be a pretty exciting weekend.”
Feeney’s only 12 Hour experience dates back to a run in a MARC II V8 in the Invitational Class in 2020, but he has steered the Mercedes on a handful of occasions in the lead-up to this year’s race.
Being acclimatised in a race car is everything, especially for a 12-hour long race, and Feeney believes he’s not far off.
“Every time I drive it I feel more comfortable in it,” he added.
“I did The Bend last year at the Australian GT round and I’ve done a couple of half test days sharing with Prince Jefri.
“I mean, I haven’t had a lot of time in a GT3 car but I feel like in that time I’ve gained a lot of experience and I have got comfortable.
“Every lap I still feel like I’m going to be better each time and driving at Bathurst in a GT3 car for the first time so plenty of new things for me this weekend, but it all aligns with my rookie season in Supercars as a learning year.”
Teams will get a total of six practice sessions culminating in more than four hours of running before the serious stuff begins.
Sunday’s Bathurst 12 Hour gets underway at 05:15 local time/AEST, with TV coverage on the Seven Network and Fox Sports kicking off at 05:00 local time/AEST.
