In addition to a stationary fan positioned inside the garage, a team member could be seen pointing a blower to direct exhaust fumes away from the open passenger door directly above the outlet.
Fumes have reportedly been an issue in endurance race pit stops with the Chevrolet Camaros since the Gen3 cars were introduced in 2023.
However, the problem was said to be worse at The Bend and came into the spotlight during the morning warm-up when Will Brown was captured visibly struggling inside the car.
Commentators initially speculated that Brown was in discomfort due to a seatbelt issue, while the driver said others – including his partner – sent messages concerned he’d hurt his back.
“I’m not sure why it’s doing it, but I jumped in the car and the fumes were burning my eyes,” said Brown on his Lucky Dogs podcast.
“That’s why they were commenting, because they thought I was crying but I literally had my eyes closed. I would just open them a little bit to merge with traffic.
“I had my eyes closed pretty much to Turn 1 and was trying to blow air in with the vent of my side window to blow some of the air out.
“But I was literally holding my breath as long as I could, and my eyes were just so sore for pretty much the rest of the session.
“It affects a few of the crew. You’ve got the driver change assistant Mitch in there who was trying to do the change having the same thing.
“But it came in so fast. [Co-driver] Scotty [Pye] was saying he pulls up and is out within two or three seconds but his eyes were burning within that time.”
Brown affirmed the addition of the leaf blower made a big difference in the race.
“We definitely fixed that for the races and didn’t have any issues,” he said.
“In [the warm-up] I was only in there for a practice pit stop, during the race we were doing 30 second stops. I don’t think I would have lasted 30 seconds. It would have been tough.”
Other GM teams have also reported the fumes issue in pit stops, but it appeared worse for Triple Eight at The Bend.
One theory is that the team’s position at the head of pit lane meant wind blowing through the garage was directing the exhaust fumes back into the car through the open passenger door.
“I believe the GMs have worse fumes in the pit stops than the Fords. It’s to do with [engine] mapping and different things like that,” team manager Mark Dutton told Speedcafe.
“It’s not a new thing, it’s been around for the whole time since Gen3. Some efforts have been made to improve it, but we haven’t got there yet, hence we were trying to blow the fumes away.
“It doesn’t rear its head from the start of the year basically because of the shorter stops. When you’re stationary for 20 or 30 seconds and you’ve got a driver change happening, it builds up.
“The exhaust is on the passenger side, when you open the passenger door because the spike person is allowed to help with a driver change, you open that door, you let all the fumes in.”
Dutton said the team will likely have to deploy the same tactic at Bathurst, with a permanent solution currently unclear.
“It’s been a continuous thing, so at this point in time while we’re trying, you’ve got to accept we’re not going to reinvent the world between now and Bathurst,” he said.
“At the enduros you’re allowed a fifth person across the line for the pit crew, so we were utilising that person to hold a blower right at the exhaust.
“The fans [in the garage] only do so much and if you don’t get them right you can actually blow it into the cockpit. But with a person standing there with a blower, problem effectively solved.
“But that’s a short-term solution, not a long-term one that we want to aim for.”
The fumes issue will likely re-ignite a debate about whether engines should have to be turned off during pit stops, as is the case in GT racing.
Teams are known to have previously pushed back on that idea due to concerns that engines may not re-fire.
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