Triple Eight Super2 rookies set to follow famous footsteps

Jackson Walls and Ben Gomersall are set to join a rare group of drivers when they line up for Triple Eight Race Engineering at next year's Dunlop Series opener in Sydney.

The pair are set to become the 10th and 11th drivers Triple Eight have fielded in the Dunlop Series spanning back to their development series debut in 2011.

This is set to be Triple Eight's third stint in the Super2 Series, having fielded VE Commodores from 2011-2013, and VF Commodores from 2019-2022.

Across their seven seasons in Super2, Triple Eight have won three championships in 2011, 2021, and 2022, and have also been supporting Eggleston Motorsport since 2014.

Following the news of Triple Eight's return to the Dunlop Series, Supercars.com takes a look back at the nine drivers who have driven for Triple Eight in Super2.

Honourable mentions

Whilst the three drivers below haven't had the careers of their contemporaries further in the list, it is important to note their place in Triple Eight's Super2 history. Triple Eight's first Super2 comeback came in 2019 with drivers Kurt Kostecki and Brenton Grove, with the former finishing second to Bryce Fullwood in the standings. Grove would join Supercars in 2021 when he and father Stephen Grove bought into Kelly Grove Racing in 2021, before taking over outright the following year. Angelo Mouzouris joined a slimmed down Triple Eight operation in 2020 after winning the Australian Formula Ford title the previous year. Mouzouris' fast but erratic Super2 career was summed up by a hefty qualifying crash at the 2021 Bathurst 1000, the same weekend Broc Feeney was crowned champion. Mouzouris has since transitioned into Porsche Carrera Cup.

Andrew Thompson

Triple Eight's first Super2 Series driver was 2011 enduro signing Andrew Thompson, who was given an entire development series season to maintain race fitness before pairing with Jamie Whincup in the enduros. Off the back of a tough main game season with Walkinshaw Racing in 2010, Thompson rebounded with a crushing series victory in the then-Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, claiming 11 wins in a 17 race season. Thompson also impressed in the enduros, finishing second at the Phillip Island 500, before electrical dramas ended a promising Bathurst run for he and Whincup. Thompson would not return to Triple Eight for 2012, and paired with Tim Slade for the 2012 and 2013 enduros, before quietly fading away from the Supercars scene.

Scott Pye

The next driver Triple Eight placed into the development series was Scott Pye, who Roland Dane has supported in a title-winning British Formula Ford campaign in 2010. After funding dried up, Pye returned to Australia and was signed to replace Thompson for 2012, and impressed and what remains one of the most competitive Super2 fields ever seen. Pye competed against the likes of Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert, and Nick Percat in his sole Super2 campaign, and won two races on his way to second in the final standings behind McLaughlin. Pye also won the prestigious Mike Kable Young Gun Award for first year Supercars drivers, and earned a main promotion with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in 2013. The South Australian was a mainstay of the Supercars Championship until last season, when Team 18 signed David Reynolds. Pye returned to Triple Eight for this year's enduros alongside Will Brown, winning the Sandown 500 and finishing third at Bathurst.

Casey Stoner

In what is arguably the most high-profile driver signing in Super2 Series history, Triple Eight pulled off a major coup by signing Casey Stoner to their program for 2013. Having retired from MotoGP as a two-time world champion in 2012, Stoner set about following in the footsteps of 1987 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner in shifting from two wheels to four. The Hunter Valley product endured a baptism of fire in 2013, recording a best finish of fifth at Triple Eight's home test track Queensland Raceway. Stoner retired from all forms of motorsport at the end of 2013 after his frustrating season, and would later express regret at jumping into Supercars so soon after leaving MotoGP.

Broc Feeney

After finishing seventh in a solid rookie season for Tickford in 2020, 2019 Super3 champion Broc Feeney joined Triple Eight for 2021 in a Red Bull-backed VF Commodore. Feeney was also the first (and so far only) driver to use the #888 in Super2, a clear sign that he was being groomed for bigger things, especially when Jamie Whincup announced his full-time retirement before the 2021 season began. Despite the enormous pressure on the then 18-year-old's shoulders, Feeney thrived in the 2021 Super2 Series, only finishing outside the top two once all season to claim the title at the Bathurst 1000. Feeney was confirmed to be the successor to Whincup mid-season, and also impressed in a Triple Eight Bathurst wildcard alongside Russell Ingall, and quickly established himself as one of the superstars of the Repco Supercars Championship.

Cameron Hill

The Canberran was signed to effectively replace Feeney as he was on the verge of claiming the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup title for his family CHE Racing outfit. Three podium finishes were the highlight of Hill's 2022 Super2 campaign, though it did end on a sour note when he became a victim of Adelaide's turn eight sweeper. Hill would also make his Bathurst 1000 debut alongside Chris Pither at PremiAir Racing that season, finishing 21st. Fifth in the standings was a fine result for what would turn out to be Hill's only season in Super2, as he would be snapped up by Matt Stone Racing to join incumbent Jack Le Brocq for the beginning of Supercars' Gen3 era last year.

Declan Fraser

Hill's teammate in 2022 was Queenslander Declan Fraser, who competed in his first Super2 campaign in 2021 in an MW Motorsport Nissan Altima. After his 2021 campaign came to an abrupt halt following a heavy crash at Bathurst, Fraser was a model of consistency in 2022, finishing every race inside the top eight. Four wins, including a clean sweep of the Adelaide finale saw Fraser walk away with the Super2 crown, and much like Feeney before him he also impressed to finish eighth in a Bathurst wildcard alongside Craig Lowndes. A main game promotion for 2023 came with Tickford, but he had a torrid time in the fourth car and was the odd man out as the team downsized to two cars this season. Fraser returned to Triple Eight in GT World Challenge Australia this season, and also impressed alongside Andre Heimgartner in the enduros this season, putting in a strong performance at Bathurst despite all of his possessions and career mementos being destroyed on Bathurst Saturday in a Gold Coast house fire.