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Who's winning the teammate battles in 2023?

04 May
Surprising head-to-head stats after three rounds
3 mins by James Pavey
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A quarter of the 2023 season is done, and while focus has been on the two brands and teams, teammate battles have been heating up.

Five drivers from three teams have shared the wins across the three rounds this season.

Nine races in, and some trends have emerged — some are very close, others are heading one way.

Spearheads have emerged at a number of teams, although some drivers closed the gap in Perth last weekend.

Heading into Sunday at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint, Brodie Kostecki had Will Brown’s measure. Kostecki led the qualifying head-to-head 5-2, and 7-0 in the races.

However, the #9 side of the garage turned it around overnight, with Brown taking pole and beating Kostecki in both races.

The closest battles in qualifying are at Nulon Racing and Team 18, where the head-to heads are 5-4 in James Golding and Scott Pye’s favour respectively.

Conversely, Chaz Mostert has out-qualified Nick Percat eight times in nine, and finished ahead nine out of nine.

However, Percat has been undone by car issues at all three events, notably retiring from Race 1 in Newcastle and Race 5 at Albert Park due to the fire.

Shane van Gisbergen is still top dog at Red Bull Ampol Racing, leading both head-to-heads.

However, Broc Feeney has won two races to van Gisbergen’s three, and is a far more competitive prospect versus his rookie campaign in 2022.

After three rounds in 2022, Feeney was 260 points behind van Gisbergen. After three rounds in 2023, Feeney is just 84 points down on his teammate.

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Team

Qualifying head-to-head

Erebus

Kostecki 6, Brown 3

Triple Eight

van Gisbergen 6, Feeney 3

BJR

Heimgartner 5, Fullwood 3, Jones 1

WAU

Mostert 8, Percat 1

Penrite

Reynolds 6, Payne 3

Team 18

Pye 5, Winterbottom 4

Tickford

Waters 5, Courtney 3, Randle 1

Nulon

Golding 5, Slade 4

DJR

Davison 6, De Pasquale 3

MSR

Le Brocq 8, Hill 1

At the four-car teams, Cam Waters and Andre Heimgartner remain the benchmarks at Tickford Racing and Brad Jones Racing.

However, James Courtney has led the way in three of six races he has seen the chequered flag, and scored a podium in Perth.

Bryce Fullwood also produced a string of strong results at Albert Park, and has led BJR’s charge three times in qualifying and races.

It has been a mixed outcome for rookies too, although Matt Payne has managed to beat David Reynolds three times in qualifying and races.

Team

Race head-to-head

Erebus

Kostecki 7, Brown 2

Triple Eight

van Gisbergen 7, Feeney 2

BJR

Heimgartner 5, Fullwood 3, Jones 1

WAU

Mostert 9, Percat 0

Penrite

Reynolds 6, Payne 3

Team 18

Pye 5, Winterbottom 4

Tickford

Waters 5, Courtney 3, Randle 1

Nulon

Slade 6, Golding 3

DJR

Davison 7, De Pasquale 2

MSR

Le Brocq 7, Hill 2

Jack Le Brocq has Cameron Hill’s measure in qualifying, but the latter has twice led Matt Stone Racing’s charge when the former found trouble.

One of the more alarming head-to-heads is at the Shell V-Power Racing Team, where Will Davison comfortably leads in qualifying and races.

Anton De Pasquale has the team’s sole pole — at Albert Park — but Davison has made it count in the races.

Heading to Tasmania, Davison leads De Pasquale in the races 7-2, and is ninth in the points versus De Pasquale’s 19th.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on May 19-21.

Tickets for the event are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.

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