Randle bracing for more Triple Eight clashes
Thomas Randle bracing for more Triple Eight clashes
Randle went into battle with Broc Feeney, Will Brown in Tasmania
Randle collided with both drivers in divisive incidents last year
Tickford Racing driver Thomas Randle won't back down from giving "hip and shoulder" with Triple Eight's star duo amid a growing rivalry.
Randle went into battle with Red Bull Ampol Racing teammates Broc Feeney and Will Brown in Tasmania, with Randle and Feeney sharing the front row for both Saturday races.
The Castrol Ford led from pole in the opening laps of the first race, with a forceful Feeney move helping Brown get past through into second.
It was the latest instalment of Randle's on-track rivalry with Triple Eight, which spilled over off-track at Symmons Plains last year when Randle collided with Feeney at the hairpin. Just laps earlier, Brown escorted Randle onto the grass.
Just weeks earlier, Brown was penalised over contact in Perth that saw Randle drop out of the podium positions.
Randle and Brown have been going head-to-head for a decade, from Formula 4 through to Super2, and now into Supercars. The former has no issue racing hard at the front of the field, but insisted he won't back down when push literally comes to shove.
“I've raced against Will for many years, so I kind of know what he's like on track,” Randle told Supercars.com.
“Look, you wanna beat everyone at the end of the day. It's nice to be mixing up the front more often now, but you battle with those guys slightly different to those in the mid pack.
“You wanna be a bit more respectful fighting for wins, but when the time comes, if you've gotta give hip and shoulder, you have to do it.”
Randle moved to sixth in the points in Tasmania, with Feeney unseating Brown at the top. Feeney is 284 points up the road, with Randle 193 points behind Tickford teammate Cam Waters.
Waters won the Perth finale last year, with Randle fighting for the podium in the same race, only to come into contact with Brown. Given the fine margins in 2025, Randle wants Tickford to repeat its 2024 Perth pace, with the Ford team winless in nine races since Waters' Sydney sweep.
"It's about trying to find that consistency. That's something that that that team has been so good at for such a long time,” Randle said.
"I'd say New Zealand was probably a bit of an outlier for them, but on their bad days, they're like sixth or seventh.
“We were quite strong as a team last year in Perth. So if we could repeat that, that would be fantastic. We were so close to getting the podium there on Sunday, and we know why it didn't happen.”
Tickets for the upcoming Perth round, on June 6-8, are on sale now.
