Broc Feeney and Matt Payne battled it out for the Perth finale. Image: Supplied
The deciding moment was the second round of stops, Payne pitting from second place surprisingly early to force T8 to respond with Feeney a lap later.
The pair emerged side by side through the Esses as Feeney came out of the pits, a risky wheel-banging manoeuvre helping Payne into a narrow lead he would hold until the end.
The second place hit hard for the entire T8 camp, Feeney saying in the immediate aftermath he was “gutted” with the outcome.
That sentiment was echoed by team principal Jamie Whincup, who said his team had thrown away a win through two factors – set-up choice and strategy.
“We were able to put in a much more respectable performance this weekend, but we’re talking 10 minutes after the last race and I’m still a little bit cut,” Whincup told Speedcafe in the immediate aftermath.
“We just got beaten. We had the fastest car in qualifying, clearly, and then the Shootout. And then we de-tuned it for the race and car #19 was just much faster.
“And then we made two errors as far as strategy goes and just pissed away the win.
“It hurts right now. It wasn’t through a lack of trying. Everyone did an incredible job and put in an incredible effort, but we’ve all got to recognise that we just got beaten by another team and let that sting a bit and do a better job next time.”
Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton later clarified the strategic error was putting too much fuel in the #88 Mustang during both stops.
“We got the strategy wrong, basically,” he said.
“We were too conservative in both stops. [Grove Racing] has shown, time and time again, they are nailing those things.
“Really we should have just been more aggressive with the fuel and put less in and put Broc in front with not enough fuel to finish the race, and left it in his hands to stay in front and save the fuel.”
Despite the Sunday heartbreak, the Perth weekend was a return to front-running form for Triple Eight after an unwanted record-breaking lean streak.
Whincup conceded to Speedcafe that a close second was a significant step forward as the team continues to understand the Ford package after its off-season switch from Chevrolet hardware.
“We’re in a position where we’re exposing ourselves to lose races, where the last few rounds we’ve been P-nowhere, making up the numbers,” he said.
“So it’s bittersweet. I’m very proud of the job everyone’s done, but we lost the race [on Sunday]. That’s not what we’re all about.”