Why battered and bruised Triple Eight are relieved to be back on top

Red Bull Ampol Racing are back at the top of the Thrifty Teams' Championship, and the feeling from within the organisation is it's where they belong.

A DNF for Broc Feeney in the final race of the Melbourne SuperSprint was largely responsible for the team remaining third in the pit lane order heading into Taupō, behind Tickford and Penrite Racing.

However, both Feeney and champion teammate Will Brown were on song in the opening leg of the ITM New Zealand Double Header, both recording results of second and fourth.

Such was their performance, that only Walkinshaw TWG Racing, who recorded their first win with Toyota and a further two podiums, outscored Triple Eight, and only by a single point.

Pit priority ultimately hurt both Feeney and Brown on Saturday, with both drivers baulked by Penrite Racing Mustangs as they dropped and attempted to rejoin the fast lane.

2025 Repco Sprint Cup winner Feeney believes that not being at the head of pit lane was the difference between winning and losing what turned out to be the final race of the weekend, and is eager to make the most of returning to a position Triple Eight have made their own.

"For the team as a whole, awesome to be back up front of pit lane leading the teams' championship again," Feeney said.

"To be honest, pit lane position probably cost me a win [in Race 9]. It cost me a couple seconds in that first pit stop the way the Penrite car blocked our exit which doesn't happen at the top of pit lane.

"Our race would have been very different from that, and truly, I think we probably would have won the race without that happening, it costs a few seconds at a key time.

"So nothing you can do, but to be back up front, it means we've had a great weekend as a team and we'll keep striving to be better which is what we always want to be doing."

The sentiment was echoed by Team Manager Mark Dutton, who stated that the team's primary objective for the weekend was to return to the first two garages in pit lane for this weekend's inaugural hit-out in Christchurch.

It was by no means an easy weekend for the team, with Dutton sporting a sling after tearing his left bicep off the bone whilst doing home renovations, whilst members of the satellite Objective Racing crew were parachuted into the Red Bull Ampol crew after a bug swept through.

“One of the goals for the weekend was get the No. 1 garage back and we achieved that. We work hard to earn it and it’s not just nice to have, it’s a performance thing," Dutton said.

“It would have helped us in both races today with the pitstops and the Grove cars.

“Overall, we’re happy. We had a few wounded soldiers with a bug going around, but everyone pushed on.

“The Ford is strong, even though we’re still learning the right knobs to turn to extract speed. Will Brown’s car was good out of the box and, although Broc Feeney’s was a bit of a handful at first, in the second race they were both super-strong.”

Feeney has closed back to within 17 points of championship leader Brodie Kostecki, while Brown has leapt into the top 10 in points for the first time this season, getting his road to the Finals back on course.

Track action in Christchurch begins with practice, qualifying, and a race on Friday.