The legal matter involving Triple Eight Race Engineering and its former race engineer David Cauchi has now been settled, Speedcafe.com has learnt.
Cauchi departed Triple Eight at the end of last year, closing the chapter on an ultra-successful 15-year tenure at the Supercars powerhouse.
His exit came as he was presented an opportunity to become team principal at Grove Racing.
Speedcafe.com understands there were differing perceptions between the parties relating to the need for Cauchi to serve a six-month gardening leave/non-compete period.
Thus, when Cauchi showed up at the Winton Motor Raceway pre-season test for Supercars’ southern-based teams, the situation erupted.
It came to a head in the hours before the opening practice session of the season, on March 4 at Sydney Motorsport Park, as Triple Eight announced it would launch legal action against Cauchi, due to him “in breach of his ongoing contractual obligations to the Team”.
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The statement further read, “Triple Eight has instructed its lawyers to take immediate steps to protect the Team’s legitimate business interests.
“We won’t be making any further statements until the matter is determined by the Court.”
After initially saying it would not comment on the matter, Grove Racing unloaded later that night, declaring Triple Eight had “no legitimate case”.
The case has gone quiet ever since, although Cauchi has continued to work for Grove Racing at the subsequent Symmons Plains and Albert Park events.
Multiple sources have now assured the matter is closed, with no further information forthcoming on whether a settlement was reached or whether the case simply fizzled out.
Somewhat ironically, both teams have enjoyed a stellar start to the 2022 championship.
Triple Eight leads both the drivers’ and teams’ points with Shane van Gisbergen having won six of nine races this year, while Grove Racing has chalked up five podiums courtesy of drivers David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth.
For reference, the Braeside squad took a total of four podiums across the 2020 and 2021 seasons under its guises as Kelly Racing and Kelly Grove Racing.
Wanneroo Raceway in Western Australia will host Round 4 of the Repco Supercars Championship on April 30 to May 1.
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