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The Supercheap Auto wildcard is not merely an extra Gen3 testing resource for Triple Eight Race Engineering, says Team Principal Jamie Whincup.
Triple Eight will field three Supercars at this month’s Hidden Valley event, as well as at Sandown and Bathurst, with the addition of the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro alongside its full-time Red Bull Ampol Racing entries.
An extra set of data generated by Zane Goddard and Craig Lowndes in Car #888 at either testing or race events will therefore be particularly handy, although Whincup says that is a by-product of the initiative.
“We’ll take it, for sure, but it’s certainly not a test programme where we’re just going to use this car as a dummy to just try new parts and try new set-ups,” he told Speedcafe.
“No, it’s chasing a result, but yeah, there’s another car going around, gathering more information, which’ll be good for all of us.”
Goddard will contest the Betr Darwin Triple Crown in the Supercheap Auto Chevrolet Camaro before he is joined by Lowndes for the enduros.
Whincup has already stated that the three Triple Eight cars “will have nothing but equal opportunity to deliver a result” and the #888 crew includes one of his former Race Engineers, Wes McDougall, plus one of his former mechanics, Ty Freele.
Whincup himself will perform Team Manager Duties in the Top End before vacating that role come September’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500 due to his role as Broc Feeney’s co-driver in Car #88.
The four-time Great Race winner and seven-time champion is only in his second year out of full-time Supercars driving, but his experience bank was generated in Project Blueprint and, more recently, Car of the Future (including Gen2) machinery, before the introduction of Gen3 this year.
“I’m one of the co-drivers that needs to get up to speed more than anybody,” he declared.
“It’s almost a bit of a reset,” added Whincup.
“Where we could get in the old cars and had 15 years of experience, it felt like home. You could just drive out of the gate and you’ve got so much muscle memory for the old car, you just knew what you were doing.
“A little slide, a little lock-up, your muscle memory would just take over and it felt like home, where this is going to feel real foreign.
“It’s going to be quite difficult for the co-drivers to get up to speed, but it’s the same for everybody, so we do what we can.”
Feeney/Whincup, Goddard/Lowndes, and Shane van Gisbergen/Richie Stanway will all be in action for Triple Eight today in Ipswich, where Dick Johnson Racing, Matt Stone Racing, and PremiAir Racing are also set to test.
