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The powerhouse team has struggled to fire in qualifying across the weekend, particularly in the case of series leader Will Brown.
He has now missed the Shootout on both days, having started yesterday’s race from 13th, while facing a 17th-place start for today’s second race.
Feeney only just snuck into the Shootout with the ninth-fastest time.
Speaking to the broadcast, T8 managing director Jamie Whincup explained that the Red Bull Camaros have been unable switch on the soft compound Dunlop control tyre.
That, according to Whincup, appears to be related to the particular batch of tyres being used this weekend.
The tyre batch was a topic of conversation in the paddock on Friday, with some convinced that tyres from other batches, used as pre-marked tyres for practice, were faster.
It was only an issue for practice, though, with all of the event allocation for each car coming from the same batch.
The Townsville batch is the same as what was used at the Australian Grand Prix.
“We just haven’t been able to light the tyre up, so to speak,” said Whincup.
“We’ve swapped the balance, it’s not really a balance issue. We’ve given the car more front and more rear and made it ride the kerbs better and worse and whatnot. We’ve done our usual things, but we don’t seem to have the overall grip.
“There’s a change in batch this weekend. it’s still a Dunlop tyre, still the same compound as what we’ve been running, but there was a batch change and our cars don’t seem to have suited that batch change.
“But it’s the same for everyone, everyone has got the same tyre. We’ve just got to do a better job of adapting from the old batch to the new batch.”
Brown did at least have sensational race pace yesterday as he converted that lowly 13th grid slot into third place behind Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert.
Whincup is confident the race pace will be similarly effective today, although admits that 17th is perhaps a little too far back for a podium shot.
“[It’s] a long way to come back,” he said. “Hopefully he gets a good start and can make some hay early on.
“Hopefully we’re in the mix. Broc is still up there. We’ve got to do some soul searching on why the cars weren’t quick enough in qualifying. As far as race trim goes both cars should be competitive but we’ve got work to do back in the pack.”
