Bring It On!

DJR TEAM PENSKE VS TRIPLE EIGHT

Triple Eight Race Engineering has dominated Supercars for over a decade. And its place at the top was only strengthened by being awarded sole Holden funding in 2017. But DJR Team Penske is now hitting its strides and presents Triple Eight with its biggest challenge yet in Supercars.

- Allan Edwards

Star Wars maestro George Lucas couldn’t have scripted the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship better.

The incumbent pack leader Triple Eight Race Engineering has dominated the series for the past decade, rewarded by being anointed as the Holden factory team, giving it the sole might of the manufacturers’ support. However, a new arrival, Team Penske, comes from a land far, far away and arguably brings with it powers and riches never before seen in this country. And, just like the intergalactic combat of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, the war between Triple Eight’s Roland Dane and DJR Team Penske’s Ryan Story is set to explode.

The on-track battles between the Red Bull Holden Racing Team entries of Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup and DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard may be what we see, but rest assured the war between the personnel under the headsets is just as fierce.

Red Bull Holden Racing Team boss Dane has declared that he and his team will not give up their position as leader of the pack without a fight.

Dane, the uncompromising architect of Triple Eight’s dominance of Supercars, actually appears primed for the challenge that has been thrown down by DJR Team Penske this season.

“We’ve been the clear leader for a long time; nobody’s won anything like the number of races (that we have) over more than a decade,” declares Dane.

“We are enjoying the challenge because we had a big challenge a couple of years ago from Prodrive Racing Australia, but that petered out for one reason or another last year. And when you fight hard for the wins and even podiums it’s very satisfying when you achieve them, so we’re more than happy to fight.