Triple Eight rules out 2023 Super2 campaign

Triple Eight Race Engineering boss Jamie Whincup has ruled out competing in the Dunlop Super2 Series in 2023.

The squad won Supercars’ second-tier title last year courtesy of Broc Feeney and is in the box seat to pull off a repeat with Declan Fraser leading the series ahead of the final round of the campaign at the Valo Adelaide 500 in December.

However, with Gen3 being introduced to the Repco Supercars Championship next year, Super2 will become the domain of the ZB Commodores and Ford Mustangs which currently race in the top flight.

They will be thin on the ground as far as availability for competition goes, however, with a number of vehicles being snapped up by collectors or for other reasons, including those ZB Commodores which Triple Eight is currently fielding.

Whincup, however, cited the workload of being Chevrolet’s Gen3 homologation team and a desire to expand its GT programme as the

“Super2’s off for us next year,” he said.

“We’ve got a big programme with Gen3 and we also want to expand our GT programme as well, so we’ve made the call – a sad decision – that we that we won’t continue with Super2.

“Mainly, to give the staff and crew a little bit of breather after what’s been an unbelievably massive year designing Gen3 cars.”

Triple Eight competes in Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS in not only Australia but also in the Asian competition.

While the latter has wrapped up for 2022, it has expended to a two-car operation in its home market for the first time, with Whincup himself back behind the wheel days ago at The Bend Motorsport Park.

It will also run a multi-car effort at next month’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, with Whincup partnering Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Shane van Gisbergen reprising his role as the Pro driver alongside Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

Its Red Bull Ampol Racing entries will be in action this weekend at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, before the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International takes place on November 11-13.