Cauchi: First Penrite Racing win 'huge achievement'
David Cauchi hails first win as Penrite Racing boss "huge" achievement
David Reynolds won team's first race of solely Grove-owned era
Cauchi was with Triple Eight between 2007 and 2021
David Cauchi has hailed his first victory as Team Principal of Penrite Racing a “huge” personal achievement following a decorated a career with Triple Eight.
Cauchi has headed up Penrite Racing since 2022, with David Reynolds’ Gold Coast win on Sunday his first in charge of the Ford team.
He joined the Grove squad last year from Triple Eight, which he joined in 2007 as a data engineer.
Cauchi stepped up to be Jamie Whincup’s race engineer in 2014, with the duo combining to win two drivers’ titles.
It took 60 races for Cauchi to oversee a victory as Team Principal, with the team erupting into raucous celebrations on the pit wall as Reynolds denied Brodie Kostecki in a cliff-hanger.
“Definitely it’s a huge achievement,” he said.
“I always believed in Stephen Grove and Brenton Grove and their vision, that’s why I made the jump from what was a great team and a successful career.
“I believe in their vision and I wanted to work with them to share what I know and bring us up to the level we need to be to win races.
“We’ve done that today win, now the next step is to continue to win races so we can win championships. That’s been clear from day one, and we’re slowly building to that."
Penrite Racing has endured a topsy turvy two seasons after the Groves took over the team from the Kellys, having bought into the squad in 2021.
Reynolds was a feature of the podium in 2022, and started 2023 on the podium in Newcastle. However, the team fell away in the middle part of the season, before finding form through the enduros.
It came to fruition on the Gold Coast, with Reynolds and rookie Matt Payne both in the fight on both days — something Cauchi said was key to the victory.
“It’s definitely a first — it feels awesome,” Cauchi said after Sunday’s race.
“There’s been a huge amount of work going on in the background, from all the boys and girls at Penrite Racing.
“To finally get a win, and it was a true team effort — both cars were up the front, so we were able to use that strategically.
“Just a really nice reward for everyone at the team for all the hard work that’s been going on over the last almost two years now.”
Reynolds moved from 19th to 12th in the points over the course of the weekend, with Payne 14th. Penrite Racing is now seventh in the teams’ points heading to the VAILO Adelaide 500.
