Triple Eight went into the race with both of its primary entries near the pointy end of the field, good on one hand, but dangerous on the other due to fears over double stacking. The issue was compounded when both cars made excellent starts, Jamie Whincup taking the lead in the #88 while Richie Stanaway moved the #97 into fourth position in the early stages of the race.
It wasn't a really nice atmosphere at the start of the race, working out strategies to try and get in front of your teammates so you don't have the stack. 'But that's the fill time of this car...' The responsibility of managing the two factions fell to team manager Mark Dutton, something he admitted was difficult to deal with. 'That is super difficult,' he said. 'So the first stop was not an intentional undercut.