Dutton's take on Triple Eight podium no-show

Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton insists his team is refusing to feel beaten despite leaving Darwin without a single podium finish.

Darwin was just the fifth instance in 43 rounds in the Gen3 era without a Triple Eight car on the podium. Will Brown was the stronger of the two cars, out-scoring Broc Feeney by 43 points across the weekend.

In a chastening footnote on the weekend, Penrite Racing left Darwin with the teams' championship lead, with Matt Payne slashing his deficit to Feeney from 90 to 15 points.

Triple Eight's results were a surprise given Feeney had won six of the last seven races at Hidden Valley heading into the 2026 event. By the end of the weekend, he had finishes of 14th, seventh and fifth to his name.

The team also had to manage internal tension over a bungled team orders call which led to Brown finishing ahead of Feeney in Sunday's finale.

“We’re still learning, learning, learning. It was a tough weekend at a track that has been a pretty happy hunting ground, so not to get a single podium is disappointing,” Dutton said.

"But no-one in the team drops their bottom lip and it’s pretty cool to be part of that. It’s really special. Everyone is working to drive us forward."

Managing Director Jamie Whincup said on Saturday that the team was set to take a big "swing" on Sunday. While it helped bring both cars forward, Triple Eight had to strike a balance between taking a risk and scoring points.

“There is a lot to digest from the weekend as we tried some different things on the cars. Not wild things, still measured, but we have a lot of data to digest and understand," Dutton continued.

“With the lack of test days you do have to be mindful about scoring points while learning and developing. You‘ve got to make a decision about how much to have a swing, or go for consistency.

“Definitely some new learnings from this weekend. Lots of work to be done but good positive stuff.”

The 2026 season resumes in Townsville on July 10-12.