Supercars legend Mark Skaife has sensationally declared there “must be something there” if Jamie Whincup aired his complaints about the Walkinshaw chassis. And Skaife is tipping the rivalry between Triple Eight and Walkinshaw to ‘escalate’ at some stage this season.
Triple Eight driver Broc Feeney revealed at the start of the year that he isn’t on speaking terms with Ryan Wood after the Walkinshaw driver spun him around in last year’s grand final. It helped Wood’s teammate Chaz Mostert win the championship after Feeney had led all season.
Jamie Whincup claimed the Walkinshaw chassis (R) is illegal, and Mark Skaife (L) has now weighed in. Image: Getty
The Triple Eight-Walkinshaw feud than ignited earlier this month when Whincup made explosive comments about the chassis on Walkinshaw’s Toyota Supra on the ‘Apex Hunters United’ podcast. Whincup claimed the chassis features ‘illegal’ welding that has been outlawed in recent years, although Ryan Walkinshaw and Supercars officials quickly denied the suggestion.
Walkinshaw and Supercars boss Tim Edwards both stated the ‘illegal’ welding was done on cars that haven’t been used since 2023. But according to Skaife, Whincup wouldn’t have made the claim unless there was something in it.
“The best racing organisation in Australia at the moment is Triple Eight and has been for a while,” Skaife told The Daily Telegraph. “They wouldn’t be raising it if there was not something there.”
Ryan Walkinshaw and Jamie Whincup. Image: Getty
Whincup had said: “If you’re a Broc Feeney fan and you get beaten by a Walkinshaw car this weekend, you’ve got every right to be pissed off because they’re not running the same chassis as what we are. It needs to be addressed. It can’t continue like that. They can’t be running these, what I regard as an illegal car. We need to get that changed as soon as we can.”
Mark Skaife believes Supercars feud is healthy
Wood took a thinly-veiled swipe at Whincup and Triple Eight when he earned a first-ever podium for Toyota in Melbourne. “With all of the stuff that’s being going on in the background, it’s really cool to shut up a few people,” he said.
Ryan Wood fired back at Triple Eight with a pointed comment.
(Daniel Kalisz via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Skaife believes the Walkinshaw-Triple Eight rivalry can only do good things for the sport. “I think really healthy, hardcore rivalry is healthy for everyone,” he said. “And that was – from the end of last year – as big a demonstration as you could ever see.
“I just reckon bring it on. I like it. As long as we play with a level playing field and we play within the rules of the game, then bring it on.
“You’ve got Broc Feeney and Ryan Wood, two of the absolute superstars, generational talents of this industry don’t talk to each other. I think it’s great. I just don’t see anything wrong with it.”