T8’s managing director joined the KTM Summer Grill to reflect on season that saw the powerhouse squad dealt with a somewhat rare loss in both the drivers’ and teams’ titles.
It didn’t come at the hands of a fellow Supercars mainstay either, the plucky Erebus Motorsport squad instead making the most of the introduction of the Gen3 rules to rocket up the order.
Led by CEO Barry Ryan and underpinned by owner Betty Klimenko, Erebus charged to both titles thanks largely to the near flawless efforts of Brodie Kostecki.
Speaking to the KTM Summer Grill, Whincup highlighted how factors such as playing the major development role in Gen3 affected Triple Eight’s on-track performance.
However he freely admits the biggest difference between T8 and Erebus – and their respective lead drivers – last year was the sheer desire to win.
“Sometimes you lose because you didn’t do a good enough job, and while that’s the case [in 2023], we saw a team that wanted it more than we did,” he said.
“Shane [van Gisbergen] went over to the US and had a fantastic run in NASCAR, and his head was overseas. That’s what his focus was. Whereas you’ve got a guy in Brodie Kostecki and even Barry and Betty, they were trying to win their first championship.
“They probably wanted it more than we did.
“We’re a bigger team. We’ve got more people, more resource. Absolutely we feel like we deserved it, but we got beaten by a group of people who wanted it more.
“And it’s good that the physics of competition played its part and the person that wanted it the most ended up getting it.”
Triple Eight heads into 2024 with a renewed focus, a fresh driver line-up (with Will Brown replacing van Gisbergen) and two brand new Camaros.
The decision to add a double new car build to the off-season work load, when the existing cars were only a year old, was one made to help Brown’s introduction to the team.
“We were going to build one, but there’s nothing like driving a used car,” said Whincup.
“We didn’t want to put Will [in one]. We wanted to give him the respect and say, ‘you’re in a brand newie as well’. We wanted to welcome him and make sure he hit the ground running.”
What number Brown will run remains a mystery, though, with van Gisbergen’s #97 highly likely to continue alongside Feeney’s #88.
But Whincup won’t be drawn on what that new number is just yet.
“We’re going to make sure we launch well,” he said. “I feel like the start of the new era. As part of that launch there will be, maybe, a new number.”
Triple Eight will launch its 2024 livery at Wellcamp Airport on February 3.
For more with Jamie Whincup watch the full episode of the KTM Summer Grill.
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