The GC600 signals the end of the enduro season– an accumulation of 2,100km gruelling endurance racing across three events; Sandown, Bathurst and the GC600.
It’s the time of year that the co-drivers come out to play and things really start to heat up, both on and off the track.
Looking back at the season, it wasn’t really our best… Given that Triple Eight had won the enduro cup three out of four years prior to 2017.
Engineering issues troubled us at Sandown and we were outplayed on the GC.
Team boss Roland Dane conceded that it wasn’t out most successful enduro campaign.
“The highlight was going 1-2-3 in Qualifying on Sunday at the GC600 but apart from that, we threw away three wins,” he said.
Although, we did come out the other side with a championship lead – that’s some good silver lining.
“We came out leading because all teams were inconsistent; we were just slightly less consistent than the others,” Dane said.
“It’s really a reflection of the year so far.
“We made too many errors this year.
“Engineering-wise at Sandown and strategy-wise at the Gold Coast in particular and those things have been our strengths in the past.
“At least we understand where we screwed up.”
Team Manager Mark “Dutto” Dutton echoed RD’s words, saying we were behind in all areas although the team didn’t go down without a fight.
“From an engineering performance side, we didn’t maximise any of those races,” he said.
“But from a team point of view, we showed a lot of grit and determination to come out with the championship lead.
“Last year, our car pace was better and we made less mistakes.
“It’s not bad luck either, it’s how we planned and executed it.
“We’ve got to do a better job next year.”
Sounds like we’ve got a lot of making up to do in 2018!
For now, let’s just get through the next two races…
