Ominous signs by Feeney Ford, Mostert Toyota after crucial day

While 60 kilometres doesn’t seem like much, it was certainly enough for Triple Eight Race Engineering and Walkinshaw TWG Racing to hit the ground running in their respective new eras.

On Monday, 2025 title combatants Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert shared Queensland Raceway with the Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet of Jack Le Brocq, and Fords of rookies Rylan Gray (Dick Johnson Racing) and Jackson Walls (SCT Motorsport).

Key attention was on Feeney and Mostert, who after finishing 2025 in a Camaro and a Mustang, kicked off the year in a Ford and all new Toyota.

Triple Eight and Walkinshaw TWG Racing delivered two vastly different shows of strength, opting for vastly different programs for the day’s running.

Per new car shakedown rules, teams are permitted to run a maximum of 60 kilometres. In this case, that’s 19 laps of the 3.2km Queensland Raceway circuit.

In an effort to pore over every conceivable detail and attempt to get close to a set-up window, Feeney and Triple Eight got through the 19 laps permitted across a lengthy four hour program.

In contrast, such was Walkinshaw TWG Racing’s confidence in its Supra, that Mostert used just six laps in the shakedown part of his day before afternoon engine evaluation work. It was a relief for the team, given the car in question went to the United States and back for wind tunnel testing.

On Monday, the Triple Eight Mustang, Walkinshaw Supra and MSR Camaro shared the track in engine comparison work, which comes ahead a series of demonstration runs at this weekend’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Bathurst runs and next week’s all-in test day in Sydney will offer Walkinshaw TWG Racing and fellow Toyota team Brad Jones Racing their best chances yet to learn more about their new V8 engines.

For what it’s worth, Monday’s running in Ipswich took place at ambient temperatures of a high of 33 degrees, which will be followed by an expected high of 28 in Sydney next week. Bathurst, meanwhile, is set to see highs of 21 on Friday and Saturday.

"You can have a big difference up and down the pit lane, certainly for the five Toyota runners, they've got a completely new widget," explained Supercars Chief Motorsport Officer Tim Edwards.

"So despite the fact that mechanically the suspension of the car is the same, every engine has slightly different characteristics. With the drivability of it, you often hear drivers talking about the pedal map they're using.

"Those pedal maps that are in the other two cars have evolved over the last three years. So the five Toyota drivers will be working hard to optimise their pedal maps. because that can only be done with the drivers in their race cars running on a racetrack. It's hard to optimise the pedal maps until you actually get to experience it firsthand.

"So they'll have a very different test program to the other 19 cars. That'll be primarily just working on chassis set-up."And you've got a few teams that have jumped ship. The Triple Eight drivers for instance, who will be learning the intricacies of the Mustang and what that engine feels like to drive.

"It's not just about the wide open power, which is something that we paratise, it's the drivability of the engine, which can be different between them. Every engine feels slightly different when you're driving it.

"Their first experience on track will be on Monday doing the shakedown. So their program for those two cars will be very different to, again, the other 17 cars. So there's gonna be a lot of different things going on. The people who've got continuity with the same cars and the same drivers, well they get to play more.

"They get to just work more on set-ups. Understanding the dynamics of the car and trying to do a better job than they did 12 months ago.”

The #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford of Will Brown is set to be shaken down at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday.

The season-opening DUNLOP Sydney 500 from February 20-22 will comprise of a 100km Friday night sprint race, and two 200km refuelling races on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets for the event, including free entry for all fans on DUNLOP Free Friday, are on sale now.