There are not enough superlatives to describe what it means to be back endurance racing Gen3 Supercars. Sure, there are plenty of categories around the world that race for an extended period of
We make our long-awaited return to the Mountain, with a real shot at taking home the Peter Brock Trophy. It’s been a whirlwind year, and while we talk all things Sprint Cup, Enduro Cup and the start of the Finals on the Gold Coast – nothing will get close to the anticipation, hype and buildup of Bathurst race week.
And although a strong Bathurst result will pay huge dividends for those looking for the extra 25 playoff points, or to make the top 10 above the cut off line, taking home a W can make your season a win regardless. The pressure to perform, and the pressure to succeed is one we don’t face as much as Sunday morning but is all part of the Mountain’s intrigue.
Our boys are hungry. And we mean HUNGRY. A tough start to the endurance season means the fire in the belly of both he #1 and #88 cars burns that little hotter. Broc’s frankly freakish run of qualifying and top ten shootout results goes up against some of the best this weekend, as he looks to snag his 15th (!!) pole position in a row. And least we forget, starting on pole would give Broc arguably the greatest chance to squash some of his Bathurst demons that have taunted him since his debut.
The only person we would be happy with dethroning Broc’s streak is Mr. Brown himself. Will and Scotty flew their way up the leaderboard at The Bend, snagging a snazzy 4th place from a 16th place start. Race pace suggests the #1 crew have got themselves sorted – and if Will can put himself right near the front for the start, there is every chance we could see a Wheeler impression up on the podium, fingers crossed.
Hear more from our boys below and get yourself up to speed before we make our trek south! 👇
Will Brown
Driver #1 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing
“I think we had really strong race pace at The Bend, which was fantastic. Obviously, our qualifying again was tough, but really good in the race. To get up to fourth on a track that was really hard to pass at was excellent. Scott did an amazing job. So, I think we take a lot of confidence heading into Bathurst and making sure we just build on what we had. If we do a really good job in qualifying and can put in the shootout, I think we’re a real shot to have a chance of winning it this year.”
“We’re doing a lot of work to improve our qualifying. We’re here at the workshop, going over as much data and footage as we can to try to improve. We’ve been trying to do that all year and felt like at Ipswich we did a better job. We qualified in the top three for every race, and then unfortunately, we went to Tailem Bend and just didn’t qualify as well as we wanted. So, I thought we’d done a little bit better of a job, but it was a little bit “one step forward, two steps back”. Hopefully, we go to Bathurst and have a consistent day on Sunday, limit our mistakes, and have a fast race car.”
Broc Feeney
Driver #88 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing
“I’m just really excited. It’s the one race that when you finish it on Sunday, all you can think about is getting back there in 12 months’ time. To think that we’re heading to the mountain with an equal opportunity to fight for the win there is pretty exciting. It’s been hard for me the last couple of years. We’ve always been able put ourselves in great positions when we’ve come to Bathurst. The fire’s always there. But we want the win. It gets bigger every year, but just excited for the opportunity to line up with hopefully a shot at taking it away”
“Obviously, The Bend was disappointing but there was still plenty of positives to take away. To get pole position once again and to be up to number 14 for the year is pretty special, and to be honest, our race pace was better than I thought at the time. It was actually quite competitive, and I felt like we still had a shot at winning the race but I’m just excited to get going again.”
“I felt like we had a lot of momentum on our side coming into The Bend. I just really want to get that back before the Finals start. For sure, you’re going to forget about the championship, come to Bathurst and go all out for the win. But it’ll be great to try and get a bit of momentum again coming into the finals, which is obviously an important time of the year. For me, the time between races has been good. I’ve been away in the States for a bit but felt like it’s been a bit of a reset for me, which is much needed at this time of the year. Feeling fresh and ready to go try bring the big trophy home.”
It’s going to be a massive weekend of on-track action, with Practice 1 kicking off proceedings at 1:20PM on Thursday, before we heading towards race start at 11:45AM on Sunday. We look forward to seeing as many of our supporters at the track, and we hope you are tuning in from home all week!