Supercars co-drivers weigh in on enduro race start change

Some of the top co-drivers in the 2025 Ryco Enduro Cup field have praised the change in regulations to allow teams to choose which of their drivers can start the two enduros at The Bend and Bathurst.

Last year, primary drivers were mandated to start at both Sandown and Bathurst, which saw all teams effectively forced onto the same strategy.

Following races that were largely processional, the controversial rule was scrapped for this year, with many teams expected to start with their co-drivers for this afternoon's AirTouch 500 at The Bend, which will start at 1:45pm local/2:15pm AEST.

The topic has been at the centre of plenty of conversation this weekend, with co-drivers throughout the field saying that the start of the race could see plenty of action with a large pace gap between drivers.

In the Saturday press conference following the Top Ten Shootout, Jamie Whincup, Cameron McLeod, and Todd Hazelwood all commented on the matter, with Whincup still sheepish following his Practice 4 accident.

"If you were a betting person you would say most of the co-drivers will jump in at the start and get it underway," said Whincup, who took the lead off the line in his last Supercars race start at the 2023 Bathurst 1000.

"I'll probably try and keep it a bit cleaner than I did today, that's the aim, so have a good sleep tonight, and fingers crossed. I'm asking him [McLeod] for advice at the moment, I haven't had the proudest day, I'm looking forward to bed."

McLeod, who only has two Supercars races to his name, added: “I never really thought I’d be sharing the front-row with Jamie. It’ll be super cool, but obviously whoever is starting the race, it’s just my job to get off the line good, do my best into Turn 1 and give Cam the car in relatively good shape.”

Hazelwood, meanwhile, said: "I've got no problem, I've been keeping myself really sharp behind the wheel, got plenty of seat time.

"I think that's probably the one thing I have got going for me at the moment. You look at some of the co-drivers who have done next to no racing in the lead up to this event. From my personal point of view, I'm ready for the challenge whatever happens."

A vocal supporter of the change has been Tickford co-driving veteran James Moffat, who will co-drive the #55 Castrol Mustang with Thomas Randle that lines up in fifth on the grid.

"I think fundamentally it's a good decision to open it back up to the teams," Moffat said on Friday.

"I think it pretty much didn't add anything to the races from an entertainment point of view last year. I was happy enough with my practice start at the end of the co-driver session, I don't know if the other guys did any.

"I had the opportunity to do one at the end of Practice 1, but it was pretty well pointless because of the drizzle that was on the track. I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of co-drivers start the race, I think it'll be back to how it used to be."

Reigning Sandown 500 winner Scott Pye will have a lot of work to do today alongside Will Brown, with the duo to start back in 16th on the grid after a disrupted day.

Brown could feasibly start the race in an attempt to gain track position of the start today, something that Pye predicted teams could do pre-event if teams felt as though they'd qualified out of position.

“I think the changes are cool. Whether it spices it up a lot or not, teams should have full control over what they want to do in the race,” Pye told Supercars.com.

"I think you probably see it more so at Bathurst, the benefit of having the freedom to start co-drivers. The majority will likely start their co-drivers, and it does give a team an opportunity — if they feel like they've qualified out of position — to take a punt.

“The disappointing thing about last year was it took away a possible strategy element from the teams. When it comes to going racing, the teams in that regard should have full control over what they want to do.

“It’s always exciting seeing main drivers pitted against co-drivers. There, you’ll see main guys pushing through the field against co-drivers, with teams offset for the majority of the day.

“Hopefully what the teams decide results in a good show for the fans, because that's ultimately what it's about. It's great they've listened to the fans and increased the laps there."

Walkinshaw Andretti United co-driver Jayden Ojeda got to practice his standing starts in a recent guest appearance in the Toyota GR Cup at Ipswich, and has plenty of race miles in GT competition around the world, though with rolling starts.

"I needed to get a few starts because I haven't done a standing start for a fair while in anything with a bit of grunt,” Ojeda told Supercars.com.

"I did a little bit of Toyota 86 stuff at Queensland Raceway which was good, but doing a race start in a Supercar is something very different, so it was good to burn up the clutch at the test day and get the feeling for that. I'm sure there will be a lot of co-drivers starting, and obviously just mixing in if the main guys start or whatever."

Another change for this year surround driver weights, which last year saw the weight of the car matched to the primary driver only, seeing some teams sign co-drivers who were significantly lighter than their primary drivers.

This year, driver weights are calculated off of an average of the two driver's weights, which theoretically will see combinations with a big discrepancy between driver weights disadvantaged.

Co-drivers will also be required to complete more laps in each races, with co-drivers mandated to complete a minimum of 37% of the race distance, up from 33% last year.

“The increased co-driver laps I think is a good thing. I still think we've made a mistake by minimising the amount of practice we're doing this year,” Pye added.

"You've still got a bunch of younger drivers that are coming in that might be under prepared compared to previous years. And then, you've probably increased the advantage for experienced co-drivers.

“Then, I don't think you're ever gonna see a level playing field in terms of weight, but last year was always going to be an uphill battle. When you go somewhere like Bathurst, you start with a three-tenth deficit, whereas this year it's a lot closer.

“Ideally you don't want your co-driver to be lighter than your main driver, because then your main plays a bit of a penalty. Todd has probably got a 15 to 20 kilo advantage on myself in the car.

“This is endurance racing. I think you're always gonna have the challenge of trying to create parity there. I've had to lose weight going into this event to get closer to Will. I lost seven kilos last year to be more competitive.

“But that's part of the job we do of working hard and ticking boxes where necessary to make the difference."