Lowndes: “interesting dynamic” looming for Triple Eight

The Chevrolet team has won eight of the 12 races so far this season and leads the teams’ championship by a mammoth 920 points after just five events, each of which pays a total of 576 to 596 points for a team (depending on fastest lap bonus points).

However, Broc Feeney pared Will Brown’s drivers’ championship lead back to 108 points with his sweep of the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

Triple Eight Race Engineering wrapped up that event at Hidden Valley with a dominant one-two in Sunday’s encounter, Brown taking the chequered flag 16 seconds ahead of third-placed Brodie Kostecki.

It is a nice problem to have for Team Principal Jamie Whincup, but one which will require careful management, opined Lowndes in his regular pre-event column on Supercars’ official website.

“Despite the great results, that situation is definitely tough on a team, because obviously they’ve got to manage the expectations of both drivers,” wrote Lowndes as he cast an eye to this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500.

“Having been part of the Triple Eight family for so long, I can say it simply just comes down to who has the fastest car on the day.

“But, I had a quick look back at last year’s race at Townsville, where there were team orders for Broc and Shane van Gisbergen.

“At some point, there will be an interesting dynamic within the team, especially when you’ve got two drivers running first and second.

“I encountered it with Jamie. You’re pushing hard to win, and drivers must get the best out of themselves, the engineer and the car.”

Whincup spoke this year of his desire for a “healthy rivalry” between incumbent Feeney and the man signed as Shane van Gisbergen’s replacement, Brown.

However, he observed that the dynamic between 21-year-old Feeney and 26-year-old Brown (then 25) would be a different one to those which he experienced with Lowndes and van Gisbergen.

When the future seven-time champion arrived at Triple Eight in 2006, he was the ‘apprentice’ to superstar Lowndes.

Exactly a decade later, he was Supercars’ benchmark driver, Lowndes’ career was winding down, and van Gisbergen was yet to achieve any major honours (enduro wins, championship titles).

Come 2022, once Whincup retired from full-time Supercars driving, Feeney was a genuine rookie and van Gisbergen the clear top dog.

However, as Lowndes noted, there was a flashpoint last year at Townsville, when team orders were invoked and van Gisbergen told to hand fourth position back to Feeney in the closing stages of the Sunday encounter.

Team Manager Mark Dutton attributed the drama to a “breakdown in communication” while Whincup was later forced to refute suggestions that Feeney had been prioritised because van Gisbergen was on his way to NASCAR.

Thus far there have been no signs of such tension between Brown and Feeney.

The latter said “clear and open” communication was key to their battles when asked what the policy is by Speedcafe after racing each other again at Albert Park.

Feeney expanded on the rules of engagement in the latest edition of Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Quarterly Report podcast, as he and Brown recalled their thrilling battle for victory at Taupo.

“I s’pose you don’t really see the two team-mates go at it so often, so openly,” he noted.

“Obviously, if there’s someone close behind us in third, the team obviously don’t want us to lose the position.

“But, we had such a big gap that it was like, ‘Okay boys, this is your chance, let it rip. You know you know the rules; don’t touch each other but let it rip.’”

Practice 1 for the Repco Supercars Championship field at the NTI Townsville 500 starts on Friday at 12:15 local time/AEST.

Lowndes will be back racing a Triple Eight car when the Supercheap Auto wildcard is rolled out again for him and Cooper Murray at September’s Sandown 500.