Cauchi seeking answers to Penrite refuelling issue

Penrite Racing's refuelling issues in Townsville are high on the post-round agenda of Team Principal David Cauchi.

The Ford team jumped rivals Tickford Racing in the teams' championship at last week's event, with Matt Payne back on the podium.

Sunday was a head-scratcher for the team, however, with Payne ending up fifth after fading from second.

Both Penrite Mustangs lost time in their stops with refuelling trouble, and while Payne didn't have the speed to fight for victory, it was a tough one to swallow for Cauchi.

"We had a couple of things go on today that we need to really understand,” Cauchi said on Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast.

“They're a crucial part of this kind of racing. We’ve got to work through a few things. All these things, it's a whole team thing, you need everyone to buy into it.

"There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of people, a lot of human elements, a lot of equipment, so everybody has to buy into it.

"But, there also needs to be some leadership to work through all the details.”

The team will diagnose the issue when they get back to base, and will discover if it is an occurrence of the slow refuelling issue that delayed Payne in the Perth finale.

Cauchi, though, was pleased to kick Tickford out of the second lot of garages, adding: “We’re P2, so that's very positive. We'll have to evict them and jump in there for QR. That’s the game.

"The aim is to maintain that, the other guys are a little bit far ahead at the moment, but there's still the enduro season to go. A lot of points can be won or lost there as well.

"But yeah, really positive out of the weekend."

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship continues at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 from August 8-10. Tickets for the event are on sale now.