FOR the second race meeting in a row, Triple Eight Race Engineering is without its managing director Jamie Whincup on the ground.
The champion former driver is in China this weekend while the team he nowadays oversees is racing at the inaugural ITM Christchurch Super440.
It’s all part of a research mission to keep building up the Triple Eight empire, fellow team co-owner Earl Evans has revealed.
“The business is getting bigger and bigger by the day and we’re looking at five and 10 years out on things,” Evans told V8 Sleuth.
“Basically we’re looking at all our stuff around merchandising, around the engineering side, fan engagement, branding, products.
“So Jamie is over there with his wife Sam and going to trade fair shows and building connections and looking at things we can bring into Triple Eight Race Engineering.
“It’s really just a bit of a search-and-discovery, learning.”
Evans and Whincup are two of four shareholders in the Triple Eight business, along with Tony Quinn and Steve Blackmore.
The Red Bull Ampol Mustangs are back at the top end of pitlane this weekend after a strong outing in Taupō for both Broc Feeney and Will Brown.
Feeney and Brown were just 10th and 17th in practice this morning, however.
Up close with the ex-Mike Imrie Group C Ford Falcon XD
It was a crowd favourite from the 2025 Winton Festival of Speed – Ian Ross’s XD Falcon, which has a very interesting back-story. A crashed taxi from Paul Stoddart’s wrecking yard, the car was campaigned in period by Mike Imrie.