Triple Eight chasing outright Bathurst record

Fresh off another Sandown 500 victory, Triple Eight Race Engineering is in position to create an outright piece of history — the most Bathurst 1000 wins by a team.

Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander’s 2022 victory was the ninth for the Banyo squad since its breakthrough win in 2006 for Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

Van Gisbergen, Lowndes and Whincup have featured in all nine of the team’s wins, and along with Broc Feeney, are the only full-time drivers to win for the team in Supercars.

Triple Eight is level with the legendary Holden Dealer Team, which delivered eight of Peter Brock’s record nine Bathurst victories.

HDT Holdens won the Great Race nine teams between 1969 and 1987, the first coming courtesy of Colin Bond and Tony Roberts in a Holden HT Monaro.

Brock added a win in 1972 on his own, with Jim Richards in 1978, 1979 and 1980, with Larry Perkins in 1982, 1983 and 1984, and 1987.

Lowndes' six wins with Triple Eight are second only behind Brock's eight with the HDT.

This year’s race marks the 40th anniversary of the controversial swap, with Brock getting in brother Phil’s car and winning with Perkins and John Harvey. Brock’s ninth and final Bathurst win in 1987 came after both Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500s were disqualified.

Triple Eight won the Great Race five times in seven attempts between 2006 and 2012 — three in a row for Lowndes and Whincup (2006-08), Lowndes and Mark Skaife (2010), and Whincup and Paul Dumbrell (2012).

Lowndes and Steven Richards added wins win 2015 and 2018, before van Gisbergen and Tander took out the 2020 and 2022 editions.

Should Triple Eight miss out, a number of rivals could also rise up the ranks. Notably, Walkinshaw Andretti United could join them on nine wins, having won eight times — seven times as the Holden Racing Team, and in 2021 as WAU.

Dick Johnson Racing is aiming to become the fifth team to win the race five times, while Tickford Racing is looking for a third win and first since 2014. A pole for Tickford would also take the team to eight Bathurst poles, level with HRT/WAU.

Current championship leaders Erebus Motorsport are searching for their first win since their fairytale victory in 2017. Erebus is one of five teams — with Triple Eight, WAU, DJR and Tickford — to have won the race before.

Brad Jones Racing, Team 18, Penrite Racing, Matt Stone Racing and Nulon Racing are all looking for their first Bathurst wins. BJR is the only team of the five to have reached the Bathurst podium, having done so six times — but not since 2009.

Most Bathurst 1000 wins for teams