How Supercars pecking order was shaken up in Newcastle

The first round of the new Ford vs Chevrolet era — the Thrifty Newcastle 500 — produced a remarkable breadth of results across teams.

The new Gen3 cars put on a spectacle in NSW’s second biggest city, with the event bringing in 167,197 fans across three days.

Across three action-packed days, nine teams brought home top 10 finishes in the two races.

Of 11 teams on the grid, 10 managed to qualify at least one car into the ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout.

Notably, second-year team Nulon Racing put both cars into the Sunday Shootout and Race 2.

Eight teams featured in Saturday’s Shootout — Erebus Motorsport, Tickford Racing, Triple Eight, PremiAir Racing, Penrite Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Brad Jones Racing and Team 18.

With Red Bull Ampol Racing disqualified, seven were represented in Saturday’s race — Tickford, WAU, Erebus, BJR, Team 18, Matt Stone Racing and Penrite Racing.

Seven were also represented in Sunday’s Shootout — Penrite Racing, WAU, PremiAir Racing, Tickford, Triple Eight, MSR and CoolDrive Racing.

Come Sunday afternoon, and eight teams had teams in the top 10 in Race 2 — Triple Eight, WAU, Penrite Racing, PremiAir Racing, Erebus, BJR, MSR and Team 18.

Remarkably, the only team that failed to score qualifying or race results in the top 10 was the Shell V-Power Racing Team.

Even then, Dick Johnson Racing has already cast its gaze to overturning its disappointing results at Albert Park.

"It was a very tough weekend. But one weekend doesn’t define our team, or the work we put into our racing,” Team Principal Ben Croke said.

"We’ve got some time now to re-set and head to the Grand Prix, and to find the set-up window that works for our cars."

Shane van Gisbergen remained the benchmark in race trim, crossing the line 14 seconds clear on Saturday and overhauling Chaz Mostert late on Sunday.

However, the double Red Bull Ampol disqualifications from Saturday’s race ensures Mostert and his WAU Ford will take the points lead to Albert Park.

In all, two different teams and cars —Erebus Chevrolet and Penrite Ford — claimed the two poles. Erebus also leads the teams’ championship.

Two different teams and cars — Tickford Ford and Triple Eight Chevrolet — brought home race wins.

By weekend’s end, eight different teams were represented in the top nine in the drivers’ points — WAU, Erebus, Tickford, Penrite Racing, BJR, Team 18, MSR and PremiAir Racing.

“When you look at the top 10, there are five different teams in the top five,” Mark Skaife said post-race.

“There’s three Mustangs and two Camaros in the top five, and eight different teams in the top 10.

“We always talk about when you change a generation of car, it tips the scale and makes everything a bit crazy to begin with.

“That’s evidence of exactly that.”

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint on March 30-April 2.