Whincup explains Triple Eight qualifying woes

Jamie Whincup believes the tyre batch being used in Townsville is behind Triple Eight’s struggles in qualifying at Reid Park.

Championship leader Will Brown will start Sunday’s race from 17th, with Broc Feeney just sneaking into the Shootout in ninth.

It comes after Brown, who arrived in Townsville with a series-high 4.0 average qualifying result, was only 13th on Saturday.

Triple Eight boss Whincup said the team hasn’t been able to light up the particular batch of Soft compound Dunlop tyres being used this weekend.

"We just haven't seemed to be able to light the tyre up,” Whincup said on the broadcast.

"We've swapped the balance, it's not really a balance issue, we've given the car more front and more rear, and made it ride the kerbs better and worse, so we've done our usual things.

"We just don't seem to have the overall grip. There's a change in batch this weekend, so it's still a Dunlop tyre, still the same compound that we've been running, but there was a batch change and our cars don't seem to have suited that batch change.

Brown recovered to finish third in Race 13, which was won by Cam Waters.

However, Whincup suggested starting 17th was a different kettle of fish, saying: "17th is a long way to come back from, he was 13th yesterday, so that's sort of achievable, 17th is very, very difficult.

"Hopefully he gets a good start and can make some hay early on."

Whincup did, however, take solace from Brown’s stunning Saturday charge to the podium, with the #87 Camaro coming alive in the final stint.

"That was one of the best races of the year yesterday, six or seven cars all about to amalgamate in those last few laps, it was amazing.

"Hopefully we're in the mix, Broc is still up there, we've really got to do some soul searching on why the cars weren't quick enough here in qualifying.

"As far as race trim goes, both cars should be fairly competitive, but we've got work to do back in the mid-pack.”

Race 14 will commence at 2:40pm AEST.