‘Forgot about today and move on’ Triple Eight on tough Taupo
For the first time in 2024, there was no Triple Eight driver on the podium after a tough day for Will Brown and Broc Feeney.
Whilst Triple Eight’s stranglehold on the driver and teams championship remains unchallenged, neither Brown or Feeney are pleased by finishing ninth and 21st respectively.
It started well for the #87, which enjoyed a beautiful run into turn 1 after nearest rivals Tim Slade and Cam Waters tripped over each other metres from the start line.
But after losing the lead to Andre Heimgartner in the lane under Safety Car, the race quickly slipped away from Brown, who found himself muscled from second down to 11th across the second stint before being one of the earliest to complete the final stop on lap 28 when a wheel night flew off.
As a result Brown struggled for pace in the long run home and had to settle for ninth, ending his run of six straight top two finishes to start the year.
“It was a pretty tough race for us,” Brown said.
“I got a good start and managed to get the lead which was really good before the safety car, but then I lost a fair bit of grip and didn’t have it underneath me later in the first stint.
“I had to pit early and go onto the tyres a lot earlier than we would have liked, which made the run home much more difficult.
“It was a hard stint home and we probably recovered as good as we could have, so overall it was a pretty tough day.”
It was an even tougher time for the sister Triple Eight Camaro of Feeney, who has seen Brown’s championship lead increase from 17 points to 59.
The #88 was on the back foot to begin with after missing the Top 10 Shootout and starting down in 13th.
To make matters worse Feeney spun at turn 1 which dropped him to the back of the field.
But Feeney fought hard throughout the mid part of the race to get into the top 10 twice, albeit briefly.
The #88 was the last to stop on lap 48 and struggled for pace at the back end, eventually being the penultimate finisher, only ahead of the unlucky Chaz Mostert and 10s behind Cam Hill.
Feeney admitted it had been a race to forget.
“The weather was pretty challenging today to say the least – it was a rollercoaster of a race,” he said.
“I spun at the start but clawed our way back to a pretty good position, but overall it was tough one.
“After my spin, I felt like I made some really good moves and had some really good pace, but we sort of just lost that for the rest of the race.
“The conditions were very challenging today, I couldn’t really see anything but that’s no excuse to our result at all – everyone had to battle through the same conditions.
“We’ll forget about today and focus on tomorrow.”
Taupo Super400 schedule (all times AEST)
Friday, April 19
Practice: 1: C. Mostert 1:26.4937 2: M. Payne +0.0318 3: W. Davison +0.0508
Saturday, April 20
Qualifying Race 7: 1: M. Payne 1:27.9684 2: A. De Pasquale +0.0940 3: C. Mostert +0.1669
Top 10 Shootout: 1: C. Waters 1:34.7415 2: W. Brown +0.5011 3: A. Heimgartner +0.5374
Race 7 (60 laps): 1: A. Heimgartner 2: W. Davison +1.1012 3: A. De Pasquale +2.5641
Sunday, April 21
Qualifying Race 8: 08.45
Top 10 Shootout: 10.25
Race 7 (60 laps): 13.05
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