For Shane van Gisbergen’s former Supercars team in the land down under, it’s been a season of contrasts. On one end of the garage is Broc Feeney driving the #88, currently second in the standings and competing for the title. On the other end is Will Brown, 2024 champion, currently seventh, who spent the season wondering what even went wrong with the #888 team.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Red Bull Ampol has found the issue and, on August 12, released a statement revealing that the #888 team had been running with an undersized engine airflow restrictor. It manages the airflow into the engine, which explains why Brown’s car hasn’t been able to put in the required lap times.
The frustrating part for the team is that it’s not something they were supposed to look out for. Supercars is expected to supply this component to all 11 Ford Mustangs at the start of the season, as part of a series with single-spec cars across the field. Red Bull Ampol took full responsibility and apologized to its fans and partners.
“We as a team are taking responsibility and want to deeply apologise to everyone involved for allowing this to happen,” a statement released by the Supercars team on their socials read.
They further announced that they would take the issue up with Supercars, who have since responded with a statement of their own. They acknowledged that the air restrictor on Brown’s car is one millimeter smaller in size than what’s “prescribed.” But at the same time, they didn’t really accept blame either.
The component was small, but the body argues that Triple Eight did not notice it either. And it was not selected for inspection in any of the races either. All Supercars promised was that it would review its procedures and look at how things could be handled better going forward.
“Supercars acknowledges and appreciates T8RE’s identifying and prompt reporting of the matter to Supercars,” a part of their statement released on social media read.
Brown’s season, especially for a former champion, has been catastrophic. He’s had just one pole and two podiums in 25 races. Team Principal Jamie Whincup even revealed that he was losing around 0.15 seconds per lap. His qualifying results, therefore, were disastrous, and now it’s clear why.
Before Supercars’ next race weekend at Queensland Raceway, from August 21 to 23, Brown will switch to a spare chassis.
Red Bull Ampol is one of the best teams in Australia and has won 11 Constructors’ Championships over the years. NASCAR Cup Series star Shane van Gisbergen won three Drivers’ Championships with them in 2016, 2021, and 2022 before heading to America with elite road-course experience.
How this fallout with Red Bull Ampol will be handled will be interesting to see.