FEENEY PROVIDES THE X FACTOR
By Paul Gover
Date posted: 1 March 2022
The newest team in Supercars is setting up on the Gold Coast with surprising guidance – from Paul Feeney.
PremiAir Racing has recruited the senior Feeney, father of main game rookie Broc, to lay the foundations for the former Team Sydney.
Peter Xiberras – Peter-X – decided to move his born-again squad north to be closer to Triple Eight Race Engineering, which will provide the engineering back-up for the team’s first year.
Feeney has been close to T8 for years, partly because of Broc but also because Feeney Snr helped T8 boss Roland Dane establish the company’s new manufacturing headquarters in Brisbane.
The greenfield factory is on the same street as the race base in Banyo, but required a completely different approach and local contacts for the many engineering machines and a separate workforce.
When Peter-X decided on the move, he went first to Feeney.
“I’m just helping to set up the workshop. I won’t be involved in the race at all,” says Feeney.
“It came about because I already had the connection with Triple Eight.”
The retired Superbike racer and Gold Coast businessman, who was once the Australian importer for Aprilia, has deep connections in south-east Queensland that have made things easier.
“I got out of motorcycles in 2014 and keep Husqvarna parts until 2016. I did some stuff with importing go-karts and kart tyres,” says Feeney.
He quickly identified a suitable 800 square-metre factory site at the suburb of Gaven on the northern Gold Coast which already had motoring connections through the local Frizelle Sunshine Automotive, one of the larger new-car outlets in the region.
“We wanted somewhere on the Gold Coast, mainly to attract staff,” says Feeney.
“We looked all the options and found this site. Originally it was a food stop, a distribution centre.
“Then it was a detailing shop for Frizelles. So it has work bays and a bunch of the other stuff you need.
“But it’s going to be set up from scratch for the race team.”
Feeney says he has an open-ended deal with Peter-X, much as he did with Dane for the Triple Eight project.
“It will be a couple of months. However long it takes.”
He could have elevated the arrangement by taking on the role as Team Manager for PremiAir Racing, but rejected an approach from Peter-X.
“I don’t have the right skill set. That’s not what I want to be doing this year. I want to go at watch Broc and look after his sponsors,” Feeney says.
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action.
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