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 time.

24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hour of Spa and the Nürburgring – to simply name a few. More relevant to us, NASCAR races 600 miles around Charlotte Motor Speedway in the longest race of its calendar year.

But there just isn’t enough to compare to what the Enduro Cup in Supercars means to us. NASCAR doesn’t do driver swaps and GT racing can’t survive the level of physical attrition and door-banging we see on a race-by-race basis. We often see complaints and complacency about our series but in fact, we’ve got it pretty damn good. Our enduro races, beginning with the 500km affair at The Bend in South Australia, is our entrée, our precursor to the Great Race.

There is not a racing series that offers up the level of changeability in product. Look at the racing at the Melbourne Grand Prix – door-banging carnage with a new race winner on one of the biggest stages in motorsport. Short, intense and edge of your seat racing that set the tone for what has been some of the best racing to follow. And then a few months later – we completely change tact. Add in another driver – young, old, experienced and new – and you’ve got and endurance race. Driver changes, setup changes, long-run race strategy and tire usage. Where else are you going to catch that sort of variability in entertainment?

We head to The Bend after a year’s hiatus. Plenty of previous generation racing has been held at the venue, and despite a weekend of running in Gen3 machinery in 2023 – times have rapidly changed since then and the landscape of Supercar racing has evolved. This time we have 500km of action to burn, and it will be extremely interesting. All of the elements that come with endurance racing will be practiced and practiced by teams and drivers alike – but the GT-inspired, 4.95km, clockwise International Circuit will illustrate a drivers ability to look after left side tyres, and an engineering teams ability to provide a setup that works for both main and co-drivers.

We look forward to ripping into what is sure to be a massive weekend of action, as our road to the Finals series starts to shorten, with only The Bend and Bathurst standing as point scoring opportunities to play a way into the first round of the Finals at the Gold Coast.

Will Brown
Driver #1 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing

“I am looking forward to getting back into the Enduros, it’s a bit of a different one this weekend heading to Tailem Bend instead of Sandown but looking forward to having Scotty (Pye) back in the car. Enduro season is always a great time of the year and a lot of fun. We were lucky enough to win the Sandown 500 last year, so we’re looking to try and put our best foot and replicate that result at the first Enduro at The Bend. I’m feeling good, feeling back ready to go. Been back in Australia for three days now and honestly just keen to get in the car and have a crack.”

“We ran pretty good at QR, we got one win, and we got a fourth which I think could have been a bit better if the safety car hadn’t come out. Obviously, the last race was disappointing but felt like we had our mojo back a bit in Ipswich so hopefully we can bring that form to Tailem Bend with us.”

“I think it’s a good year for me to have the points reset heading into the Finals. We haven’t had the strongest year – last year I would have been disappointed and if I was in Broc’s position – I would be maybe a little frustrated but I’m pretty keen on that points reset. In saying that though, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the line for the next two rounds.”

Broc Feeney
Driver #88 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing

“I’m super excited. It has been a pretty big break for us after what was a busy period with Darwin, Townsville and then Ipswich. It’s going to be good to get back in the Supercar and for the first Enduro so always looking forward to it. It’s the most exciting part of the year now until November. And I can’t wait to pair up with Jamie (Whincup). It’s going to be really cool to share the car with him once again and coming off the back of a weekend in GT at Tailem Bend, that’s only going to help going there this weekend. Hopefully we can just keep that momentum rolling and try to keep that up.”

“It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been there so just to do just to do laps anyway, anywhere in any car is going to help but to do it at Tailem Bend in a GT3 is awesome. I was able to get a good feel for the track, a couple of changes that they’ve made, but certainly feel like I’m going to have my eye in and come practice one, I feel like I’m going to be able to get up to speed pretty quick and just try and get the ball rolling from lap one of practice one.”

“I suppose I don’t really change my overall approach, but in some way the way you go about the weekend is a bit different compared to previous weekends. You normally have two short practice sessions and then you’ve got to get out on track and hit it – where this weekend, we have five practice sessions, we have two full co-driver sessions. It’s a balance of me getting comfortable and fast in the car to qualify up the front, but at the same time it’s just getting Jamie comfortable in the car and making sure we’re both up to speed and happy with the race package we’ve got.”

“So, it’s not just one lap pace all weekend, which it normally is on a sprint weekend, you just focus on qualifying and figure out the race once it comes. I feel like we are going to be looking more towards the race and maybe a little bit the qualifying car on Saturday so plenty of sessions to work on it.”

There’s plenty to watch and follow across the weekend, as on track Supercars action begins with the first of three Friday practice sessions at 11:40AM ACST time. 

The Bend 500 – Practice 1, 2 & 3 Results

Will Brown/Scott Pye – Car #1

Practice 1 – 18th (1:51.4439)
Practice 2 – 11th (1:51.3467)
Practice 3 – 1st (1:48.9957)

“So the last time we were here was 2023, which is actually the weekend that I announced that I was moving across to Red Bull Ampol Racing, so that’s a cool little memory from a couple of years ago.”

“But it was actually, to be honest, it was a fantastic Friday. Even though it was quite tough in the first practice and then again in Scott’s session we were just continually working on the car, trying to make it better. But straight when we got that new set of greens on the car it just came alive and we were able to put together a really good lap.”

“So stoked with where it ended up, but outside of that, I’ve got to try and understand why we’re off on the old rubber even though we’re on with the new ones. You know, we’ve done a lot of stops changing all four throughout the year where other people do just two per stop, so sometimes they have a bit better rubber when it comes to practice one and two.”

“Good to know how fast the car is when it grips up.
Hopefully, that last session and lap translates across to tomorrow with the sessions and qualifying. Hopefully, we can be up the front.”

“It feels good being back in the car. It’s been a big day, and great to see Will finish on top in the car which gives us confidence going into tomorrow.”

“Overall I’m really happy that we were finally on an event tire because I think there’s a big discrepancy between everything everyone was on there to start the week.
So it was a tricky day, but I’m glad we stuck to our guns and just backed ourselves today to get the result in the end.”

“It is only Friday, it’s only practice, but I think the great thing is we’re on the rubber for the weekend now so that should translate from today to tomorrow and Sunday pace wise. There were a lot of question marks around them coming in but now we’re all on them and we’re seeing how everyone performs.”

“But I think we just back ourselves in now. Credit to the boys and Andrew and Will who did a good job and now hopefully we can qualify well tomorrow, start at the pointy end come Sunday. But comfort wise and everything from the co driver’s perspective, I feel good. I’m looking forward to Sunday and before then I’ve got another co driver session tomorrow too, so looking forward to that.”

Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88

Practice 1 – 12th (1:51.0469)
Practice 2 – 1st (1:50.5875)
Practice 3 – 2nd (1:49.3167)

“Having been here last week racing GT I felt on it straight away, my first lap we went P1 by a bit of a margin so I felt like it was certainly an advantage to be here last weekend, I felt on top of it.”

“The sessions, it sounds like a lot on paper, but I did two flying laps in the first session and then Jamie went in and it rained so it felt quite interrupted the first session and then you sit out for the second co-driver session. So it was good to do some more laps in practice three and even then you still had the safety car procedure. What I’m saying is a lot happened today. It’s been action packed for probably not too many laps done.”

“The good thing is we’ve rolled out, we’re competitive, overall in the end we’re second and a one two for the team which is great… but still plenty to work on.”

“I still feel like we’ve got a fair bit to work on but it’s good that the speed’s there, even though it doesn’t feel the best, it’s good to know that we’ve sort of got the speed at the moment. So look, I have no doubt everyone’s going to make a big jump overnight. We just need to make sure we can do that as well.”

“Today it was good to get more laps in, haven’t been in the car since the test day, but the more I’m behind the wheel the more comfortable I’m becoming.”

“I’m still very, very… you know, it’s not second nature. It’s still a really strange thing being back in it. In your head you sort of know the limits, so to speak, you can’t get there just because you don’t have the muscle memory because you haven’t done it for so long. It’s a little bit frustrating.
So I’m just trying to learn to just roll with it, try to enjoy it, not get frustrated by it, by not being as much of a perfectionist as what the main drivers are.”

“But at the same time, I’m working with Broc on the car. We’ve probably made the job a little harder for Marty today than we should have.
We’re both sort of saying different things and I can tell he’s in the middle of us both. So I think tomorrow’s focus is Broc and I working together on our feedback back to the team so they can help us get the most out of the car.”

“To have both Red Bull Ampol Racing cars at the top of the sheets in that final session is great for sure. Everyone showed their hand today and both cars were more than competitive, you know, car #1 was exceptional. That was under lap record. It’s unbelievable, really, where we were still under lap record pace but not as fast as car #1. Very, very happy with todays results for both cars.”

The Bend 500 – Practice 4 & 5, Qualifying & Top Ten Shootout Results

Will Brown/Scott Pye – Car #1

Practice 4 – 27th (2:40.1669)
Practice 5 – 11th (1:49.9344)
Qualifying – 16th (1:50.0944)

“Unfortunately a tough start to the day.
I mean, the additional driver session with what happened there and then just got tougher from there really.”

“Thought we had a really good car underneath us yesterday afternoon and then just struggled to get any pace today. Ended up in sixteenth which was very disappointing, but we’ll get after it tomorrow and try and fight forward.”

“We shouldn’t be sixteenth, shouldn’t be where we are. They boys and team do a good job and they’ll take a good look at it now before tomorrow. We’ll be ready to go.”

“Big talking point this morning is the trial of the safety car procedure. While it’s not hard to understand I think putting it into practice there’s a lot of risk involved. I think that in a way kind of ironic that we’re trying to improve safety but at the same time we’ve implemented something that has high risk, and I think we saw today, it’s very easy to get caught out when you’re pushing it and you’re trying to find every little advantage on track which is just part of competing.”

“But one thing I think we saw today is what happens when you’re in a freight train of potentially ten cars say and someone’s breaking to a line at race speed one hundred metres up the road from you. So I think we could see a bottle neck if it happens in a race, it’s going to happen at least once as long as they run that slow zone. So it’s definitely going to be interesting across the weekend and how that unfolds.”

“My first impression is obviously not great of it right now. I think unless you drive a race car it sounds really easy when you’re talking about it… but you put the helmet on and you start driving at speed and things change very quickly. 
So it’ll be interesting to see where this safety car procedure goes after this weekend.”

“After what happened today with my car getting so much damage, I think we need to make sure that I get plenty of laps tomorrow in the warm up to get some track time in. 
It’s not too late to focus on the race car. We’ve still got a few changes after qualifying we can do to make the car a little bit better and then ultimately we need to make a good start tomorrow and move the car forward as far as possible once the race is go. I still feel very race fit and very sharp, so I myself need to make sure I capitalise and put Will in a spot where he can make hay at the end of the race.”

Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88

Practice 4 – 15th (1:51.6380)
Practice 5 – 3rd (1:49.3451)
Qualifying – 2nd (1:50.7119)
Top Ten Shootout – 1st (1st (1:48.6548))

“So this morning, obviously not the smoothest start to the day, looking at that trial of the new safety car system. I’m not going to speak for Jamie but I think he just made a bit of a mistake, and it obviously shows that it is quite a complex change when someone like Jamie can make a mistake like that, but for all of us, it’s our first time doing it. I think the most unfortunate thing from that was that Scott missed out on his session and getting some laps in ahead of tomorrow.”

“Our race run after that didn’t go the smoothest either, we were a little bit out of whack, so it was good in Practice 5 to get back into a groove and do some qualifying simulations. Then qualifying went really well, we got a bit out of sync, which made me a bit nervous towards the end of the run, then we nailed that last lap of the first qualifying session, putting us in P2 which was great.”

“Then the shootout, the track just kept getting faster and faster and faster. So it was obviously great to be at the end for our run and do a really solid lap, one that I was really happy with. There’s always a little bit more left on the table at a track that’s this long, but really solid and stoked to be on pole for tomorrow.”


“So it was a rough, rough day for me. I had a great day yesterday, felt really good in the car, then it just changes so quickly. For me maybe I just need to take the advice I’ve been giving the young fellas for the last three years… forget about it, move on. It’s all about tomorrow and the race. So tough start to the day.”

“Broc has certainly made up for it in the end. He did a fantastic job as he has been doing this year in qualifying. So very happy to start in the best spot, but it only gives you an opportunity, you know what I mean. We still know it’s going to be a long, long day and race.”

“I’ve got to make sure I play my part and get it to Broc in the best position and then it’ll be up to him to bring it home. So I’ll be head down.”

The Bend 500 – Warm Up & Race 26 Results

Will Brown/Scott Pye – Car #1

Warm Up – 7th (1:51.1430)
Race 26 – 4th

“What a day. What a weekend. To be honest Scotty’s probably got sore shoulders from carrying us a little bit today, he did a fantastic job there from the start through the first part of the race. Shows he’s still got it and he gave it good to some of those guys back there while he came up through the field. I think he got us up to seventh and then I was able to pick a couple off from there once I got behind the wheel.”

“It’s a massively hard place to pass at so for Scotty to pass so many, he did a fantastic job. For us to recover to fourth shows that we had a really good car underneath us today, and not only that all weekend when we really leaned in to it, that’s the positive we need to take away, one of them. We just need to qualify a bit better and I think we can be right up there. In the race we’ve put ourselves in a good spot, good recovery from where we were to where we ended up and put us in a good spot to have a real lunge at the Enduro Cup.”

“In the past the car has been really strong at Bathurst, this is not the first year Scotty and I have done it together so we’re going in as ready as anyone to push for a win there.”

“Overall really happy with the day. I moved the car up I think eleven spots before Will got in which was kind of our ambitious target.
I wasn’t sure that’d be achievable, but very proud of holding the car together and giving it to Will not only in a good spot on track but a good condition.”

“Once he took over he was super fast especially at the end of the day there. So we know we’ve got a really fast race car. Obviously, we’re just a little bit behind the eight ball on qualifying and hopefully we can fix that for Bathurst. But the great thing was the race pace, that’s what took us from sixteenth to fourth and that’s what has put us in a good spot for the Enduro Cup. We’re still in in the hunt. If we can go ahead and win Bathurst…”

“But overall today was a really good recovery, a really good race and I was stoked. I felt really good in the car. I feel fresh. My start was good. Unreal to be back in the main in a race start situation, the adrenaline and the nerves. It was just a very cool feeling and one that I’ve definitely missed.”

“Going into Bathurst for me is just how confident and comfortable I feel in the car. I think the pace last year at Bathurst was very strong. While there’s no guarantee of performance based on past performance, I think we’re in a good position and the race showed us that today. I think we found a lot with the car from yesterday to today with the set up, we’re running through the processes, doing our strategy… good to be working with Andrew again. We’ll go to Bathurst better prepared than having come into this one.”


Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88

Warm Up – 22nd (1:51.8260)
Race 26 – 19th

“Yeah, just pretty much a day to forget. Jamie got it off the line great, leading into one and then from there to be honest didn’t really look like we had the pace against some of the guys behind us. We held it up until just before that first stop then it’s all come undone pretty much. Fuel wasn’t going in to the car and we couldn’t do anything about it in the stop itself, so just set us back pretty much a minute in the first twenty five laps of the race and then from there to be fair it still wasn’t a great race for us. We were effectively last but by a big margin, then some mistakes came in over the day.”

“The car wasn’t fantastic but I think we still definitely could have fought for the podium had other things not gotten us. Not sure if we could have fought for a win really, but we certainly would have been in the hunt.”

“But when we don’t put fuel in the car it doesn’t help. That’s a big one, means we’re essentially coming in again to fuel up and get on with it.”

“Looking at the positives, we’ve been very fast the last couple of years at Bathurst and we’ve always been in there with the chance of winning. The qualifying has been a big strength. We’ll probably focus a bit more on the race car this time and getting that set up ready to go for what we know is going to be a big race.”

“Some things just probably caught us out a little bit today, but overall we just need to try and minimise the mistakes because the way the Championship is this year you have that happen at round one of the Finals at the Gold Coast and you go home. So not out our best day, but you’ve just got to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Disappointing end of the weekend. There was no sign whatsoever all weekend that we were weren’t going to have the pace in the race but ultimately that’s what happened… we just didn’t have the pace.”

“I got off to a good start, we led from the start and had clear track, but I just got mowed down by the DJR car and then Frosty was coming as well.
He was going to be a big problem of ours in the second stint, regardless, and we saw that coming.”

“But unfortunately, we never really got to the second stint. We came in for fuel and we’re sitting there for fifty seconds with no fuel going in. We’ll have to analyse it when we get back, but we think there was fuel in the vent which was stopping the air from escaping so the fuel could go in and fill it up. It was like a hydraulic airlock creating compression in the tank so the fuel couldn’t come in. That was basically our day.”

“The rest of the day we were just trying things, we were doing things with the setup up just trying all different lines and all sorts of things, just like a bit of a test session after that pit stop issue. We were always going to be running around at the back of the pack after something like that. She was a long, old day out there, unfortunately.”