Gen3 balancing act for Triple Eight

Triple Eight Race Engineering is juggling resources as it heads into this weekend’s Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour while also managing its Gen3 Supercars builds.

The Queensland-based operation is fielding two cars in the Mount Panorama enduro while back at base work continues on its Chevrolet Camaros.

It’s a critical time in the Gen3 project as the 2023 season looms little more than a month away.

Blanchard Racing Team became the first Supercars team to hit the track with their new car while others have been beset by supply delays across various components.

That comes against the backdrop of the country’s largest GT race, an event Triple Eight has previously won.

This year, Triple Eight supports a Pro and Pro-Am Mercedes-AMG GT3 against a field rife with international competition, back after having been absent through the pandemic.

“Yeah, it’s a balancing act but it’s nothing that we’re not familiar with,” Whincup told Speedcafe.com of the GT and Gen3 programmes.

“We’ve been balancing Supercar, GT racing, and of course developing the Gen3 car for two years now, so it’s nothing new.

“It’s a challenge but one that all the crew at Triple Eight, we really thrive on it.”

Triple Eight had a big hand in the Maranello Motorsport which won the race in 2017, with Whincup, Craig Lowndes, and Toni Vilander aboard a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Since then, it has expanded its GT interest, which now makes up a significant part of the business.

“We’ve expanded heavily in the last two or three years in particular,” Whincup noted.

“GT racing is a big part of our DNA and what we do, and if you walk into a workshop, GT takes up about 50 percent of the floor space.

“So, while we’re known and heavily involved in Supercar racing, and that will continue for a long time to come, 50 percent of what we do is GT racing.

“It feels like we’ve been competing in the GT space for a long, long time,” he added.

“We ran with Marinello in 2017 and I think this is maybe our fourth Bathurst 12 Hour that we’ve competed as a core group.

“It feels like just another Bathurst 12 Hour with Triple Eight representing two cars.

“So we feel like we went head to head, certainly last year with everybody, and we’re going to do it again this year.”