Triple Eight returns to Super2 with Porsche star

Triple Eight Race Engineering will return to the Dunlop Super2 Series after two years away with a Porsche rising star.

Spearheading the Supercars heavyweight’s comeback to the feeder series will be youngsters Jackson Walls and Ben Gomersall.

The last time Triple Eight competed in the Super2 Series was 2022 when Declan Fraser led it to a third crown.

Walls is an intriguing selection, given he has been one of the latest rising stars to rise out of the Porsche pyramid.

The 21-year-old currently sits third in the Carrera Cup Australia standings with McElrea Racing, having burst onto the scene last year where he wrestled for the title with Callum Hedge.

But after four years in the Carrera Cup, which has led to a trip to the Middle East, Walls will chase the Supercars dream.

“To be completely honest, I don’t really think there’s a better way to start a Supercars campaign in Super2, especially with the best team in the country at the moment and one of the best, if not the best teams, in the last 15 years or so,” Walls said.

“It’s pretty exciting for me, my family, and my supporters. We want to get things rolling right from the get-go. 

“I’m super excited. Like always, you want to do the best job possible, but for me, it’s just maximising myself in learning how to drive the Supercar.

“But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to go win races and win championships. I want to strive for the top and give the championship a good crack.

“After completing the limited days I’ve done in a Supercar and then the evaluation day with Triple Eight and the Supercheap Auto Wildcard Camaro, you don’t realise until you’re in a part of the internal outfit, what kind of level they run at.

“I wouldn’t be here without my dad; he has been working tirelessly for the last 15 years or so. He’s been my number-one backer since the start.”

Gomersall will arrive at Triple Eight from the Toyota 86 GR Cup series where he sits eighth in the championship.

The son of Jason Gomersall also took part in the Bathurst 6 Hour.

Gomersall hopes to build throughout his rookie Super2 campaign.

“I just feel like it’s such a great opportunity to be driving a Triple Eight Super2 car next year,” said Ben. “It’s going to be a really cool environment to learn from everyone with so much experience there.

“It is going to be a big learning curve next year, so if I can try to take in as much information as I can and learn from all the experienced guys there, it’s going to help me out.

“If we’re consistently improving each round from the first round in Sydney to the last round in Adelaide, getting some top-ten and top-five finishes along the way, I’d be really happy with that.

“This year so far has been pretty solid overall; we’ve had a really good pace at all of the rounds this year.

“We’ve been top five in the championship for the whole year as well as results-wise on track.”

Whilst neither Walls or Gomersall have significant supercars experience, both have been able to get some samples behind the wheel in preparation.

“I have done a couple of test days in some of my some of my dad’s Supercars,” Gomersall explained. “Earlier this year in July, I did a few laps in Reuben Goodall’s Holden ZB Commodore at the time was. 

“I did about 40 or so laps at Queensland Raceway, but other than that, haven’t done much driving of them.

“My dad’s always been a big help in my career. He’s always been there for me, and I couldn’t do it without him.”

Walls was lucky enough to steer the #888 wildcard that was raced by Cooper Murray and Craig Lowndes at Sandown and Bathurst.

“After completing the limited days I’ve done in a Supercar and then the evaluation day with Triple Eight and the Supercheap Auto Wildcard Camaro, you don’t realise until you’re in a part of the internal outfit, what kind of level they run at,” he said.

“It was super cool, and I learned a lot, particularly with Wes McDougall (Supercheap Auto Racing, Race Engineer) and everyone who was part of the Wildcard crew for the evaluation day. 

“So, for me, I was just taking everything in and trying to be as fast as possible.”

This will be the third instance of Triple Eight competing in Super2 and it achieved championship success on both previous occasions with Andrew Thompson in 2011, Broc Feeney in 2021 and Fraser in 2022.

Other drivers who have graduated to Super2 from the Triple Eight stable are Fraser, Cameron Hill Feeney and Scott Pye.

Triple Eight Managing Director Jamie Whincup Managing Director Jamie Whincup is excited by the challenge.

“It is fantastic to be returning to Super2,” he said. 

“We are big supporters of introducing young talent into motorsport and providing that young talent a pathway from go-karts to Supercars. And Super2 is a big part of that pathway.

“I’ve felt a bit hollow the last few years not being in Super2, only because we didn’t have cars available. But we’ve been able to now get cars available so we can enter the series again.

“However, this is just the start of a grand plan to develop talent, provide the stepping stones, and give them the pathway from go-karts to Supercars.

“Jackson is a talented young kid, predominantly known for his Porsche Carrera Cup performances. He’s very, very competitive in that championship, and he’s someone that we feel we can rely on to represent the Triple Eight Race Engineering brand in Super2 again.

“We’ve needed drivers who can showcase the performance of the car and what Triple Eight is all about, and we’ve got full trust that Jackson’s going to be able to do that.

“He is certainly a fast young kid looking to get on the Supercar grid, and we hope we can be a part of that journey.

“Ben has done quite a bit of racing. He’s still quite young, so I think it’s a great opportunity for him to massively increase his learning curve. He’ll be surrounded by some of the best drivers and engineers in the business. So, I think it’s going to be fantastic, but we’re not putting too much pressure on him.

“Hopefully, that learning curve accelerates quickly over the first 6 months, and then he can become a real contender by the end of the season.

“I just want them both to grow. If they can get to the end of the year with a significant amount more experience and good knowledge of the Triple Eight way to make a Supercar go fast, that’d be a job well done.”

The 2025 Super2 Series begins at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 21-23.

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