Triple Eight 2024 season review: Where there's a Will, there's a way
As 2024 winds down, Supercars.com is looking over all 11 teams and their performances in this year's Repco Supercars Championship, concluding with Triple Eight Race Engineering.
It was a year to remember for Triple Eight Race Engineering, which ended 2024 with both championships and both drivers in the top two.
With 11 wins in 24 starts, and 33 podiums, Triple Eight was the class of the field, with Will Brown a revelation in his first season in Red Bull Ampol colours.
The departure of Shane van Gisbergen left many question marks, but Brown did what the Kiwi, or Broc Feeney, couldn’t last year — win the championship.
How Brown won should be concerning for his rivals. The Queenslander barely put a foot wrong, and when he wasn’t the fastest, he made sure he made the most of his bad days. Even then, a ‘bad’ day was often third, with Brown claiming a stunning 19 podiums in 24 starts.
Feeney won six races, but didn’t have the consistency to put Brown under genuine pressure. They were evenly matched through the first two rounds, but Brown’s victory in Taupō was clear proof the new boy wasn’t going to back down.
Where Brown’s bad days were podiums, Feeney’s bad days were top sevens, if not worse. Notably, Feeney missed the top five in Perth, Townsville and Sydney, and while a shock collision with Thomas Randle in Tasmania was damaging, Feeney was already on the back foot.
Still, in three seasons, Feeney has finished sixth, third and second. He’s on some trajectory, and team boss Jamie Whincup believe his protege can channel the pain of his latest defeat into glory.
Triple Eight Race Engineering: 2024 season results and head-to-heads
Drivers' finish: Will Brown 1st, Broc Feeney 2nd
Teams' finish: 1st
Best result: 1st (11 wins)
Qualifying head to head: Broc Feeney 14, Will Brown 10
Race head to head: Will Brown 14, Broc Feeney 10
What’s next in 2025?
How could it get any better for Triple Eight in 2025? Well, they were beaten in Bathurst by Brodie Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport, despite Feeney’s best efforts.
If your drivers finish first and second in the championship, you’ve had a perfect year. But Triple Eight won’t look at the 11 races they won, but the 13 they lost. Bathurst was the big one, but the team was also winless in Perth, Townsville, Sydney, Tasmania and the Gold Coast. Such is the rising level of competition, that Triple Eight will need to do more winning next season to hang onto its crowns.
The fans and media questioned whether Brown and Feeney could keep it clean, and they proved it in spades — look no further than their incredible Taupō battle. However, next year’s formats and the introduction of the Finals will almost certainly add more spice, and if both drivers are in the fight, there’s more scope for drama.
Triple Eight has long maintained a ‘race hard, but race fair’ mantra between its drivers, rather than resorting to team orders. Brown and Feeney are the best out there on their days, but when the chips are down, the pressure will be on. Whincup, arguably more than any other team, will have a big job to do next season.
