Gen3 could upset Triple Eight Race Engineering’s typical dominance at Sandown, David Reynolds has suggested.
While Triple Eight has enjoyed success everywhere, the Melbourne circuit has been a particularly happy hunting ground.
It has won nine of the past 10 races there, a figure comprised of a podium sweep in the 2018 Sandown 500, the 2019 Sandown 500 when one car inherited victory due to a late mechanical failure for the other, both qualifying sprints in 2019 (which counted as championship points-paying encounters), and five out of six sprints across the 2021 and 2022 events.
However, that was Gen2, whereas this weekend’s race is the first enduro of the Gen3 era.
“Traditionally, we’ve been hosed by Triple Eight there in the past,” Reynolds admitted to Speedcafe.
“They’ve won by almost half a lap in some races, so they’ve had a magical set-up there.
“But everyone’s got similar cars this year so, honestly, I don’t really know.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s the magic of this year, that’s been the beauty of this year.”
To that point, Erebus Motorsport, is currently leading the drivers’ and teams’ championships having not been on top of either of those standings before Gen3, whereas Triple Eight won both of those titles in each of the last two seasons of Gen2.
This year, Erebus and Triple Eight are fielding Chevrolet Camaros of identical specification, while Reynolds is piloting one of the two Penrite-backed Grove Racing Mustangs.
However, there is also Triple Eight flavour in Car #26, and not just the influence of the Team Principal (David Cauchi) or the Technical Director (Grant McPherson).
Reynolds this year counts Garth Tander, who has won two of the last three Bathurst 1000s with the Banyo-based outfit, as his co-driver in the Grove squad.
The 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner believes they have complementary strengths, but cautions that the engineers will also have a big say in the outcome given the difficulty in making in-race adjustments to a Gen3 Supercar.
“I’ve always been a really good qualifier and he’s [Tander] been a good racer, so if we combine the two strengths of ours, I think that’s the best way forward,” explained Reynolds.
“My job is to maximise the car over one lap and his job can be to give me some guidance and give us guidance on how it’s going to manage the tyre.
“But, because you can’t change roll bars or anything – it’s really hard to change that up during the race, or anything during the race – it’s really down to the engineers being confident enough to make the best decision for the race.
“It’s going to be very challenging for them, and us as well.”
Practice 1 starts on Friday at 10:45 local time/AEST.
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