Triple Eight has confirmed a three-event campaign for its Supercheap Auto wildcard, with Zane Goddard to race next month in Darwin before Craig Lowndes joins him for both Supercars enduros.
Triple Eight Race Engineering has fielded an extra, Supercheap Auto-backed car alongside its full-time Red Bull Ampol Racing entries at the Great Race for the previous two years, with Broc Feeney/Russell Ingall behind the wheel in 2021 and Lowndes/Declan Fraser in 2022.
This year, the programme extends to the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 and Repco Bathurst 1000, plus a solo start for Goddard at Hidden Valley’s Betr Darwin Triple Crown.
That news was confirmed this evening as the covers were pulled off the #888 Chevrolet Camaro in its testing livery at a launch at Maritime Green Northshore in Brisbane.
“It’s awesome to have so many fans come out to our wildcard launch to see the car that Lowndesy and I will race for the first time,” said Goddard.
“Red cars always look fast, and this is no exception.
“In Supercars, I’ve never had a brand-new car to race, so that’s a really cool experience.
“Usually, the cars I’ve had in the past have been hand-me-downs from Jamie [Whincup] and Shane [van Gisbergen], but to have a brand-new car is a cool opportunity.
“There’s going to be certain things to learn from a new car once we shake it down, but those are the experiences I’m really looking forward to.
“The car looks awesome with all the Supercheap Auto branding, and the crew back at Triple Eight have done a super job building it.
“It’s also a great opportunity for me to have a standalone wildcard entry in Darwin and get some laps under my belt before the enduro season, and I can’t thank Supercheap Auto and Triple Eight enough.
“I’ve obviously raced full-time before, but to also have a chance in the car to show what I can do is really cool.
“Darwin is always an amazing event, so I’m going to embrace the whole race meeting and hopefully we can get some good results.
“The guys and girls at Triple Eight have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to get the car ready, so hopefully we can repay them with a good result and take as much away from it as we can.”
Feeney used his wildcard start as preparation for his rookie season with Triple Eight in 2022 while Fraser’s performance at the Bathurst 1000, when he and Lowndes set a new record for a wildcard with a finish of eighth, helped him land a drive of his own at Tickford Racing this year.
Team Principal Jamie Whincup, who will again co-drive with Feeney in the enduros in 2023, said, “Firstly, I must thank the amazing team at Supercheap Auto for continuing to invest in this hugely successful programme.
“They’ve been such super partners of ours since 2021 and I’m honoured that they’ve shown confidence in our team to represent their iconic brand at three huge events this year.
“Their commitment to the younger generation of budding Supercars drivers is unrivalled, which has seen the likes of Broc and Declan graduate to the main game with their support of this programme.
“I’m thrilled that Zane will get a standalone event in Darwin for him to get comfortable in these Gen3 cars, and it’s a great opportunity for our engineers and mechanics to gel as a team before an intense enduro season later in the year.
“I think continuing with another unique combination of youth and experience with Zane and Craig at Sandown and Bathurst will prove to be a competitive pairing.
“With the support and dedication of our 60-plus staff, I can assure you all three Triple Eight cars we take to each of these events will have nothing but equal opportunity to deliver a result.”
All three Triple Eight cars are set to test on Thursday, June 1 at Queensland Raceway, before Event 5 of the Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley on June 16-18.
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