Bathurst 1000: Jamie Whincup to team up with Broc Feeney for enduros

The Master will once again pair with the Apprentice after Triple Eight with Jamie Whincup pairing with Broc Feeney for Bathurst and Sandown.

Triple Eight is set to field one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid for the 2023 Supercars enduro season, with Jamie Whincup joining young gun Broc Feeney for a second go around at Bathurst later this year.

Feeney arrived on the Supercars scene by stepping into the seat of Whincup’s famous No. 88 Red Bull in 2022.

Now the Master and his apprentice will team-up once again after defying the opening lap carnage to finish fifth at last year’s Bathurst 1000.

Seven-time Supercars champion Whincup will partner second-year star Feeney for the Sandown 500 on September 15-17 and prestigious Bathurst 1000 from October 5-8.

“I’m stoked the team has decided that I am the best person to co-drive the No. 88 car alongside Broc for this year’s endurance races,” Whincup said.

(L-R) Jamie Whincup and Brock Feeney will share a drive at the Bathurst 1000. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“There’s no doubt Broc is becoming a more confident and competitive driver in the series – you just have to look at his results after the first three rounds to prove that.

“I couldn’t ask for a more compatible co-driver.”

When the pair teamed up at Mount Panorama last October Feeney was a rookie without a race win to his name.

Since then he has taken the chequered flag three times – including twice already this season – and established himself as a Supercars champion of the future.

Having shown an early mastery of the Gen3 Camaro, Feeney’s continued improvement behind the wheel will make he and four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Whincup a formidable threat at The Mountain.

“It’s great to have Jamie back as my co-driver for a second season,” Feeney said.

“It still doesn’t feel real that I’m in this environment at Triple Eight with him, and to be able to co-drive together for another year is awesome.

“He was fantastic last year and I learnt so much from him. I feel like we’re building a better relationship all the time and I feel like we can have a really positive enduro campaign this year.”

The return of the Sandown 500 to the Supercars calendar will offer an early test of driver pairings ahead of the 65th running of The Great Race a month later.

Whincup has kept himself race fit by competing in the GT World Challenge Australia – most recently taking second and seventh at the Perth SuperSprint last weekend.

“Being two events this year makes it even more crucial to have a good co-driver and I couldn’t have a better person by my side,” Feeney said.

“Jamie has been super open to me for the past 16 months while I’ve been the driver of the No. 88. He’s really been opening up to me and sharing his racing IP and gave me access to a lot of his work which has been invaluable.

“The way he goes about his racing has really stood out and I think it stands out to a lot of people … for me to be the lucky guy on the receiving end of that information is awesome.”

AUSSIE RACING STAR’S BLUNT MESSAGE TO DOUBTERS AFTER PODIUM

Aussie MotoGP star Jack Miller recorded a podium double at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, sending a message to those who doubted the KTM bikes.

“Ha. Where’s the KTM now?’’ Miller said, after the Red Bull team claimed four out of six possible placings over the weekend.

“Thanks to the people who doubted us. Because I love it.

“To be back here on the podium, not only me but to have both bikes on the podium after so many riders were sitting there complaining how bad this bike was.’’

The Queenslander finished third in the Saturday sprint and then repeated the result in Sunday’s race at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto circuit in southern Spain.

Miller jumped from eighth to fourth in the championship while champion Pecco Bagnaia moved to top spot on the table after a fighting victory on the factory Ducati on Sunday.

Miller’s teammate, South African Brad Binder, won the sprint and then led for much of the main race only for Bagnaia to pass him in the closing stages.

(From left) Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller celebrate after the Spanish MotoGP. Picture: AFP

Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati) was fourth ahead of countryman Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), who started from pole but was never in a position to fight for a win.

The race had been restarted after Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira and pre-race championship leader Marco Bezzecchi all crashed on the second corner of the opening lap.

Quartararo, the 2021 champion, was able to rejoin the race but had to serve two long-lap penalties and salvaged 10th position.

In Moto2, Britain’s Sam Lowes won from pole for his first victory since the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Aussie Joel Kelso returned to racing in Moto3 after injury forced him out of the last two rounds, coming in 18th from 25 finishers.

And in the World Superbike series, Australian Remy Gardner improved on the Yamaha as the weekend progressed with an 11th, eighth and then a sixth placing in the Dutch round at Assen.

Ducati star and defending champion Alvaro Bautista again swept all three races again to lead the championship by 56 points from Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu. Gardner is 11th on the ladder.

Australian Jack Miller rounds the bend in Spain. Picture: Getty Images

SUPERCARS LEADER FURIOUS AT ‘STUPID’ CALL

Championship leader Brodie Kostecki says he will “definitely” consider driving differently for the remainder of the season after Erebus’ protest against Shane van Gisbergen’s Race 7 victory was thrown out.

The 25 year old was embroiled in one of the best battles in recent memory in Saturday’s opening race when he and reigning champion van Gisbergen went bumper to bumper for the win with three laps to go.

Ultimately the Red Bull star pushed his way past Kostecki to take the chequered flag, however Erebus later protested the result of the race, arguing van Gisbergen’s aggressive driving was not within the rules.

Stewards waved away the protest and instead it was Kostecki who received a warning from race officials, who showed the West Australian a bad sportsmanship flag for an illegal blocking manoeuvre as he attempted to fend off the rampaging Red Bull of van Gisbergen.

Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki’s rivalry is intensifying.

Kostecki said the ruling “set a pretty big precedent” for what is and isn’t allowed in one-on-one battles.

“It seems you can just force your way into a hole as long as you’re in control of your car … touch someone wide and have the smallest bit of overlap and it’s just considered game on,” he said.

“It’s fine in my book – it’s against the rules, but it is what it is.”

Kostecki clarified that he had no issue with the protest being thrown out – having previously congratulated van Gisbergen on a hard-fought battle for the win – but was left confused why he received a warning and not his Red Bull rival.

“To be honest the whole deal was confusing to me with the bad sportsmanship flag and what not,” he said.

“Shane was racing me hard and rubbing me and pushing in my rear bar and that’s sort of against the rules, but to be honest I don’t really care about the whole sort of deal.

“But it’s weird I got a flag and supposedly a warning, but (what I did) is in the rules.

“(The) ruling is pretty stupid in my opinion and I hope that we can change it in the future because the crowd and the fans deserve to see good racing and right now it’s not the case.

“It was really good racing out there and I got a flag thrown – I didn’t know it at the time, but I was pretty frustrated when I came back in.”

Kostecki may not have gotten a prized hometown race victory in Perth at the weekend, but the Erebus ace nevertheless managed to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 100 points following a triple podium performance at Wanneroo.

“It was a fantastic weekend for Erebus and great to see Will get a win and pole,” he said of teammate Will Brown.

“To get the team’s first one-two (race finish) and a double podium again in the final (race_ is pretty cool and yeah, (we) just bagged good points this weekend and continuing our run of podiums is really cool.”

Broc Feeney took the win in Perth - and wouldn’t begrudge teammate Shane van Gisbergen if he moves overseas. Picture: Getty Images

FEENEY WANTS TO SEE VAN GISBERGEN ON INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Triple Eight Race Engineering star Broc Feeney hopes teammate and three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen remains with the team beyond next season, but would not begrudge the Kiwi seeking fresh challenges elsewhere.

Feeney, 20, drove a stellar final race in Perth to claim his third career Supercars victory and second of the season, underlining his credentials as a future champion of the category.

But its current champion, van Gisbergen, made waves earlier in the day when it came to light his new contract with Triple Eight was not a traditional multi-year deal, but rather a year-on-year contract with out-clauses should he want to pursue other opportunities.

Asked what he thought of van Gisbergen’s contract extension with the team, Feeney said he hoped to partner the No. 97 Red Bull for the foreseeable future – but was also eager to see him in other categories.

“Yeah it’s great – I love it,” Feeney said of the extension.

“It’s been so cool to see him do his thing and be so dominant last year and he’s been great to work with (for) me.

“The quote is, ‘to be the best you have to beat the best’ and Shane has been that guy for the last few years, so it’s great to continue working with him. I hope he stays around and we can continue working in the future.

“(But) I think we all want to see him go and drive some different stuff, because whenever he does he’s been so good and it’s been awesome to see. But I want him to stay; I’m glad he’s signed on and I’m looking forward to working with him and racing him in the future.”

Shane van Gisbergen celebrates. Picture: Getty Images

Feeney and van Gisbergen both bagged wins at the Perth round, however Triple Eight still conceded ground to Teams Championship leaders Erebus after a stunning weekend from Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki which featured a win and four podiums.

The Gold Coaster said Red Bull had to be more consistent in qualifying if the team wanted to rein in the surprise early season leaders.

“We’ve got some work to do – these guys (Kostecki and Brown) have been really strong and they showed that this weekend,” Feeney said.

“It’s been really good. They (Supercars) have probably achieved what they wanted this year – it’s been a big mix-up and these guys have come from a fair way down pit lane to be the guys to chase at the moment, so we’ve certainly got some work to do.”

MCLAUGHLIN WINS IN ALABAMA

Former Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin held off Romain Grosjean in a strategic duel for the IndyCar Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham.

Team Penske’s three-pit stop strategy worked out to perfection as McLaughlin overtook Grosjean for the lead with 18 laps to go and cruised to a fourth career IndyCar win, and his first of 2023.

He finished 1.7854sec ahead of Grosjean with Penske’s Will Power of Australia third, 1.48sec behind Grosjean.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson finished 10th and remained atop the standings with 130 points.

McLaughlin jumped to 10th in the standings with a victory that puts him on the rise heading into May, when IndyCar returns to its spiritual home with the GMR Grand Prix on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the famed oval on May 28.

“May is going to be an awesome time for us,” McLaughlin said.

Originally published as Bathurst 1000: Jamie Whincup to team up with Broc Feeney for enduros