Whincup: New car 'like first day at school'

Jamie Whincup has likened driving a Gen3 Supercar to "the first day at school” ahead of this year’s crucial enduro races.

Whincup tested Broc Feeney’s #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro at Queensland Raceway last week.

The 40-year-old previously lapped Feeney's car at the Sydney pre-season test, and also the Camaro prototype.

The four-time Bathurst winner wasn’t the only co-driver to get laps last week ahead of Sandown and Bathurst.

Whincup was joined by Shane van Gisbergen’s co-driver Richie Stanaway, Shell V-Power Racing Team duo Alex Davison and Tony D’Alberto, and Matt Stone Racing’s Jayden Ojeda on Thursday.

Over at Winton, Brad Jones Racing gave three of its four co-drivers — Dale Wood, Dean Fiore and Jordan Boys — some laps.

Given Sandown and Bathurst are worth 300 points for the winner, co-drivers will play a major role in the championship fight.

For Whincup, whose career spanned the Project Blueprint and Car of the Future/Gen2 eras, every Gen3 lap counts.

“It's really important for guys like myself to get laps in the new car,” Whincup told Supercars.com.

“The old car, we’d done 15 years with it, we had so much muscle memory.

“You could jump in and off you go, and everything felt normal.

“With this car, it feels quite foreign — it’s like the first day at school again, learning a new trick.

“Laps for me are about new muscle memory, familiarising myself, even where all the buttons are.

“What the car does when the wheel locks up, how it reacts to kerbs and bumps.”

The addition of Sandown as a 300-point race will see a greater price put on a co-driver’s performance.

'It's really important for guys like myself to get laps'

However, given the learning curve around the new cars, Feeney believes there will be a bigger difference between main drivers and co-drivers.

“I think this year there might actually be a bit more of a difference between the main and cos,” Feeney told Supercars.com

“Because these new cars are quite different to drive, so I think as many laps as the co-drivers can get will only help.

“There’s 600 points up for grabs in two races and they’re a big part for that.

“I still think I’ve got the best guy in my corner for that, thankfully, and I just really enjoy working with him.

“I feel like he lifts all of us in our team and just makes us push that little bit more, so I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be a fun enduro campaign, but we’ve still got a long way to go until then.”

The Penrite Oil Sandown 500 will be held on September 15-17, ahead of the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.

The 2023 season will resume on June 16-18 at the betr Darwin Triple Crown.