Teams' championship set for another twist in Townsville

The 2023 teams’ championship fight took its first major twist at the betr Darwin Triple Crown, with Triple Eight closing on Erebus.

Erebus had bolted out of the blocks in the first four rounds, and carried a healthy 276-point lead to Darwin.

However, as both Erebus drivers missed the podium, Broc Feeney and Shane van Gisbergen were first and second for the round.

In one weekend, Triple Eight outscored Erebus by 134 points, with the margin now just 142 points heading to the NTI Townsville 500.

Erebus has led the teams’ championship since the Thrifty Newcastle 500, with Brodie Kostecki leading the drivers’ standings for four straight rounds.

Kostecki lost a swag of points in the Darwin finale, finishing 26th and four laps down after a first-lap clash with Anton De Pasquale.

The #99 Coca-Cola Camaro driver leads teammate Will Brown by a reduced 59 points, having led by 87 coming into the weekend.

Brad Jones Racing, meanwhile, is a surprise third in the teams’ championship after standout weekends for Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood.

Heimgartner was third and second on Sunday, and is now sixth in the drivers’ standings, just 282 points behind Kostecki.

The Kiwi jumped Cam Waters into sixth, with the latter suffering his first DNF since 2021 in Saturday’s race due to a spectacular fire.

BJR jumped Walkinshaw Andretti United, which remained fourth. However, there was movement around WAU, with the big mover the Shell V-Power Racing Team, which is now fifth.

The Shell Ford squad was a lowly 10th after Newcastle, but a podium in Darwin for Will Davison continued the team’s upwards trend.

The biggest losers were Tickford Racing and Penrite Racing, the latter plummeting from sixth to 10th across the Darwin weekend.

The Grove squad was second after Newcastle, but neither David Reynolds or Matt Payne were able to crack the top 10 at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Tickford, meanwhile, was third after Tasmania, but dropped to sixth in Darwin due to James Courtney's struggles and Waters’ DNF.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NTI Townsville 500 on July 7-9. Tickets are on sale now.